YOLO: You Only Launch Once With Speek Co-Founder Danny Boice At Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

To launch or not to launch, that’s a tough question facing startup founders everywhere. Some startup founders prescribe to the lean methodology, push out a minimum viable product and iterate until it’s right. Others prefer to take all the time they need and handle iteration internally until they have the product they feel is ready for consumers. No matter what method you choose you only launch once.

That’s the basis for the talk that Danny Boice, co-founder of Washington DC startup Speek, will speak about on Monday February 11th at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference.

Boice is the CTO at Speek, which is the easiest conference calling platform we’ve ever used here at nibletz (and we’ve tried many). There are no bridges to remember, no needing to have your cell phone and a pad and paper to write down a long pin number, and no frantically dialing back when you get cut off.

To execute a call using Speek’s platform you just sign up for an account and click the link.

Speek is an easy product to use with a nice and easy to understand UI. They also have a cute mascott to boot.

As for Boice he founded a startup called Jaxara that was acquired in 2006. He attended Harvard, and he’s a former exec at The College Board. Speek’s other co-founder is John Bracken who originally founded E-vite.

Speek is an incredibly competitive space, even as such, they are constantly creating buzz, interacting with people and speaking about Speek. There almost grass roots marketing strategy is both effective and deliberate. If you’re even the least bit over 20 than you probably remember in great detail how e-vite was the platform for events, before eventbrite and before Facebook events.

Boice has a great background and a great story. He’s also one of many successful startup founders that’s a true believer in the “everywhere else” concept, and the purpose of the conference.

Get your ticket to everywhereelse.co the startup conference below. There are still a couple of exhibiting startup village booths as well.

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Two Weeks Left Until Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, Biggest Startup Conference In The US

We are officially at the two week mark for everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference. The event is taking place from February 10th – 12th in beautiful downtown Memphis, a cultural hub for music, and entrepreneurship. The conference itself will be held at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. We’ve sold over 1500 tickets and have over 100 startups in our Startup Village.

Everywhereelse.co has even been named as a “must attend” conference for startups and entrepreneurs by Forbes Magazine.

Attendees

We still have attendee tickets on sale through next week. The attendee ticket will get you into all of the panels, keynotes and official conference events. You’re also invited to peruse the Startup Village during Sunday’s Startup Village preview. Sunday night we’ll take in the Memphis Grizzlies at the Grind House as they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. After that we’ll all take part in the Grasshopper, The Entrepreneur’s Phone System, Bar Crawl on Beale Street.

Monday features great speakers like Scott Case, Bill Harris, Rohit Bhargava, and panels like “Kick Ass Female Founders From Everywhere Else”, How to Raise Money Everywhere Else, and many more. We also have two exciting startups coming out of stealth mode and launching on stage. (want to launch your startup on stage email info@everywhereelse.co)

Tuesday the fun, learning and networking continue. We’ve got great keynotes and panels queued up like Mike Bott the former brand manager for Olay at P&G and current GM of the Brandery on “Branding for startups“. Best selling author of Likeanomics, Rohit Bhangarva is speaking and much more

Startups

We have over 100 startups in the Startup Village, a representation of startups from across the country and around the world. You’ll see startups just post idea stage, all the way up to series A. They’re also competing in the Best Of Everywhere Else startup contest, an audience participation contest and a speed pitch contest.

A handful of startups upgraded their booth space so we have 3 startup village booths open. You can register your startup below.

Investors

We have hundreds of accredited angel investors and vc’s from some of the top firms in the country who have already purchased tickets. If you are an investor everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference offers unparalleled access to not only the startups in our startup village but hundreds and hundreds of entrepreneurs and founders attending the conference. Forget flying all over the country and around the world. Founders forget having to panhandle on a street corner to raise that money for a one way airline ticket. Investors and Startups from everywhereelse are coming together at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference.

Acceleration

If you’ve been thinking about an accelerator for your startup this is the conference for you. We have several accelerators from across the country who will be on hand to talk to startups and their founders on whether their accelerator is right for them. Pat Riley from the Global Accelerator Network and his team will be on the ground helping with two great acceleration panels.

In one panel “What I learned From An Accelerator” we’ll hear from startups who’ve completed 500 startups, YCombinator, Techstars, The Brandery, Seed Hatchery, Jumpstart Foundry and more.

In another panel “Accelerator Heads” we’ll hear from the Managing Directors of some of the best startup accelerators out there from Eric Mathews at Seed Hatchery to Mike Bott GM at the Brandery. Marcus Whitney from Jumpstart Foundry will join us as well as Guy Madison from Oklahoma City’s Blue Print For Business.

Finally, you’ll be able to get a consult with someone from any of these accelerators and more, to find out where your startup fits in the accelerator matrix.

A different kind of conference

Everywhereelse.co is a different kind of conference. First off we wanted to make the conference attainable to even the most bootstrapped founders and entrepreneurs. That’s why both the ticket price and the startup exhibitor (Startup Village) price were so low. This way we can offer unparalleled access to content, learning, speakers and networking all in under one roof.

Next, many will be surprised at some of the successful founders who are attending the conference. Many have reached out by email or at other events. While they may not need all that this conference has to offer they want to give back to the startup ecosystem. Keep your eyes open and talk to everyone.

Memphis is a city about grinding. It’s a blue collar city with hardworking folks and a history rich in entrepreneurism going back to the 1800s. FedEx, Holiday Inn and Autozone are just a few nationally known brands that started in Memphis.

Finally

Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference is the brainchild of a bootstrapped startup, Nibletz, the voice of startups everywhere else. This conference is about founders, startups, and entrepreneurs from across the country and around the globe “everywhere else”. The conference may not look like the million dollar production that some of the conferences out there that charge startups $899 just to attend look like, but the content, networking, and camaraderie will be second to none.

We have a few last minute areas for sponsors to touch over 1000 startup founders, entrepreneurs, startups and investors from across the country. For quick information on sponsoring email info@everywhereelse.co

Attendee tickets go up to $99 on Wednesday. Startup Village booths go up to $699 on Wednesday.

Sell Tickets Online through Eventbrite

Everywhereelse.co Outgrows Original Venue Moves To Memphis Cook Convention Center

Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference has continued to grow, now to the point where the conference has moved from the original venue, The Peabody Hotel to the Memphis Cook Convention Center. That means that over 1000 entrepreneurs, founders, investors and startup supporters will have a lot more space to mingle, take in exciting startups and plot the takeover of the world.

Everywhereelse.co is the first conference of it’s kind, bringing together startups from across the country (and around the world) all under one roof providing investors, fellow startups and great startup resources like the Global Accelerator Network, the ability to reach more entrepreneurs and more startups than any other event.

The three day conference is being held in Downtown Memphis Tennessee with tickets sold as far away as Portland, Miami, San Francisco, Detroit, Toronto and even Israel. Attendees will take in the rich historical, musical and entrepreneurial history that has grown in Memphis Tennessee. Some of the biggest brands in the world like FedEx, Holiday Inn, Autozone, and even Mrs. Fields Cookies have roots that trace back to Memphis.

The conference has three main focal points that will speak to startup issues that entrepreneurs across the country experience; access to capital, access to talent and acceleration.

Speakers including: Scott Case, Rohit Bhangarva, Bill Harris, Tracy Myers and more will speak in keynotes, roundtables and fireside chats. FedEx will tell the story of how one man, Fred Smith, had an entrepreneurial vision in the 1970’s that on paper looked crazy. How he leveraged everything he had while bootstrapping and became the largest logistics company in the world.

Because of the overwhelming response we’ve had to move the event a few blocks down the road to the Convention Center. At the new venue there will be a lot more room, and we have decided to extend ticket sales a few extra days.

Over 100 startups are exhibiting in our Startup Village exhibition hall and we have a couple spaces left but they are running out quick. Check out the ticket form below.

For Startup Village startups and questions about hotel.

Feel free to continue to enjoy the charm and southern hospitality of the Peabody. There will be bus service in the mornings to the convention center and in the evenings back to the Peabody free of charge. There’s also the downtown Memphis trolley that picks up one block up from the Peabody and lets off at the doorstep to the convention center.

The Downtown Marriott connects to the Convention Center and has offered everywhereelse.co guests a room rate of $109 per night for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Rooms can be booked by calling (901)527-7300 or call the toll free reservation line at (888)557-8740. You must tell the reservation agent you’re with everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference.

We found out in speaking with the Marriott that our dates are a little heavy and we’re assuming that’s because some of our attendees have already booked at the Marriott because of points. If your rate was more than the $109 special rate the Marriott is giving the conference you can call the Marriott and they will rebook you under the new rate.

The official conference hours are:

Sunday:

7:30am-10:00am Startup Village Load In
10:00am-4:00pm Startup Village Preview and Registration

Monday & Tuesday:

9:00am-5:30pm

We look forward to seeing you in Memphis for everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference:

Event registration for Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference powered by Eventbrite

Deadline to book rooms at the Marriott is February 1, 2013

SocialNightlife, Customer Management, Engagement & Loyalty For Night Clubs

A Los Angeles startup a year in the making has finally launched a product that night club owners and other nightlife venues will get a lot out of. SocialNightlife is a complete platform designed to help nightclubs and other establishments keep track of their VIP’s and loyal customers.

Nightlife professionals will now have the ability to digitally check-in guest-list and VIP customers and track activity by team member, venue, event and client. Venues will also be able to setup custom promotions and reward their loyal guests as a result of the social media features built as a front-end to the professional business tool.

They already have a handful of popular night clubs on board like the famous Marquee nightclub in Las Vegas. Using the SocialNightlife platform VIPs, loyal customers and social media rockstars will be able to get into clubs quicker and their information will be utilized more efficiently providing a service to both the patron and the establishment.

“We’re breaking down physical barriers,” said Artin Nazarian, SocialNightlife’s co-founder and CEO. “Front door staff can finally put a face to the names on their list and send targeted event promotions to fans of a specific DJ or celebrity.”

Patrons have access to key features as well, that were originally released in a public beta at CES 2012 (last year)

· Location based check ins to gain insight on frequent patrons

· Ability to offer loyalty rewards like complimentary tickets, drinks and other VIP services

· Instant reviews of the line queue, music quality, and venue energy level

· Public photo gallery with advanced photo editing and hash-tagging functionality

· Branded social media business pages

· Performance reports for promoters and hosts such as reservations, guest check-in and sales

· Event promotion and direct marketing tools

· Gamification through virtual “bottle” badges

· Customer analytics and automated guest lists

The company has already partnered with strategic advisors and stakeholders in clubs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami.

For more info visit SocialNightlife on the web here

You’ll find an amazing night life experience at the biggest startup conference in the U.S. everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, limited tickets still available.

Jaguars Support First Ever Crowdfunding Festival One Spark April 17-21

Onespark,Florida statups,shad khan,Jacksonville startup,crowdfunding festival

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan (known for his mustache) has pledged up to $1 million dollars at the first crowdfunding festival One Spark (photo: sportsrantz.com)

An amazing thing is happening in Jacksonville, Florida April 12-21 2013. The entire downtown part of the city is being transformed into One Spark, the first ever of it’s kind, gigantic crowdfunding festival.

One of the event’s co-founder and Executive Director Elton Rivas told nibletz.com “Imagine taking crowdfunding offline”. He went onto describe how venues across the downtown area will be set up to showcase the latest in startups, technology, products and crowdfunding goods. At these showcases the creators and founders can show off their wares and encourage people to crowdfund their project right there in person.

While the concept is great in it’s own right, I mean imagine being able to touch the products on Kickstarter, there’s more to OneSpark than that.

On Tuesday night when we first talked to Rivas there was a minimum fund of $250,000 already in place to help crowdfund some of the project that will be showing off at OneSpark. It was revealed on Wednesday that Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has pledged up to $1 million dollars through his investment arm STACHE Investments Corp. to help fund these projects.

“One Spark will attract and celebrate creativity in a variety of fields including science, technology, engineering and the arts, all of which are areas of great personal interest,” said Khan. “Jacksonville is the perfect host for this festival and I believe One Spark has the potential to inspire some really big thinking from the brightest minds in the area and beyond.”

“One Spark started with the belief that game-changers emerge from dorm rooms, garages and small studios – where great ideas develop. One Spark 2013 will be the point when creators of all kinds converge in our community, and when people from far and wide join together to decide on the next big thing(s). The heart of our city will be the place to get involved, be inspired, connect and collaborate,” said Rivas.

Some facts about One Spark:

— Open to all: Anyone can be a creator; One Spark venues can be spaces nearly anywhere in the urban core.

— Grassroots and independent: One Spark is built on the premise that the next great creation will likely come from a garage, small studio or dorm room. Creators will pair up with venues, independently, on the One Spark website. The organization does not select any of the creators or venues that make up the event.

— Empowered public: The $250,000 One Spark fund will be distributed based on public vote; the public can also contribute directly to entrants in any amount.

— Five packed days: During the actual event, there will be creator showcases, speakers, culinary experiences, music and what we like to call “spectacles.”

— Win votes and snag a slice of the $250,000 guaranteed crowd-fund. Crowd-fund monies will be distributed by popular vote. For example, if you receive 10 percent of the vote, you would receive 10 percent of the fund, or $25,000.

— STACHE Investments Corp: Formed by Shad Khan in 2012, the investment company has a component that focuses on entrepreneurial ventures in Northeast Florida and will be on the ground looking for investment opportunities during the five days of One Spark.

For more on OneSpark click here

Now that’s four months of great startup events including the biggest startup conference in the U.S. everywhereelse.co The Startup Conerence next month!

Find Me Coffee, Coffee Discovery Startup

Whether you’re looking for a chain coffee shop, a drive through or the shop that serves as a city’s cultural mecca, you can find your next cup of joe using the app from Toronto startup Find Me Coffee. We’re all aware that Toronto has one of the largest startup ecosystems in the western hemisphere, and a lot of that innovation is being fueled by coffee.

Find Me Coffee makes it easy to find the nearest coffee shop using your smart phone.

We got a chance to talk with the team behind Find Me Coffee. Check out the interview below.

Seelio Among Four Startups That Just Received Funding From Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund

Back in August we interviewed Ann Arbor startup Seelio.. The company helps college students highlight their academic, extra curricular, culture and social lives in conjunction with the job hunt.

Seelio was just announced as one of four Michigan startups that took part in the latest funding round from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund. The fund is a collaborative effort of Michigan’s smart zones to help support startups. To date the fund has helped 83 startups with 19 million dollars in funding.

“It’s exciting to see how Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund companies use the investments to drive growth; the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund makes a measurable, positive impact on a start-up’s chance of success in the state,” said Skip Simms, manager, Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund and senior vice president of Ann Arbor SPARK. “Early funding recipients, like Compendia Bioscience, have gone on to achieve significant success, including expansion, hiring and attracting marquee clients. The four early stage companies funded this round are using the award to attract additional outside funding and get solidly on that path to success.”

The four companies recently awarded Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund investment are Fusion Coolant Systems, Local Orbit, New Eagle Products, and Seelio. Fusion Coolant Systems is innovating an advanced coolant and lubrication system for use in manufacturing that increases production rates and tool life. Local Orbit provides e-commerce and business management tools for the “new food economy”. New Eagle offers controls system solutions including tools, products, and services. Seelio is commercializing its online platform that empowers college students to showcase their work and skills to startups.

Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund companies have attracted more than $25.5 million in matching grant and equity funds. Combined, Michigan Pre-Seed Fund investments have helped to create more than 43 net new jobs in Michigan.

Israeli Startup Intucell Acquired By Cisco For $475 Million

An Israeli company that created a technology that allows cell phone towers to communicate with each other, has just been acquired for $475 million dollars.

Business Insider reports that Israeli startup Intucell, started four years ago, and prior to this acquisition, had only raised $6 million dollars. The initial investment round had one investor, Bessemer.

After Bessemer’s investment was reported in 2011, AT&T quickly started using the technology.

On Wednesday, All Things D suggested that this was a very good investment for Cisco. The report by Arik Hesseldahl suggests that strategically this makes sense because of the relationships that Intucell has with wireless carriers globally.

Another key factor is the technology deals directly in computer aided, customizable software to control networking.

The idea is basically this: Software controls can define and dynamically control the size and configuration of a network, rather than swapping out hardware. Hesseldahl said in his piece.

Startup Vs Small Business Debate Stretches To Kuwait

One of the biggest things I have struggled with since I’ve been in the startup community is explaining my position on the startup vs. small business debate. Some consider me a startup snob or a startup hipster. This debate is compounded by the fact that everyone seems to have an opinion on the issue.

Take for instance Green Girl Produce, a Memphis based company that pitched and built at 48 Hour Launch in Memphis back in October. The concept is an urban farm. Granted it’s not Joe’s Dry Cleaners, but many people decided to take me to task when I penned this piece about Green Girl.

The debate for me isn’t necessarily about technology, or web based technology. It’s about creation and innovation. In that post I wrote:

“The debate about “Startup vs SMB” in Self’s case has NOTHING to do with technology. There is another woman in Memphis who has come up with a new way to remove acrylic nails without the harsh abrasiveness and damage to the nails that traditional methods have caused. To me, the young lady with the nail solution is a startup. Green Girl is not.”

Today while perusing Brad Feld’s version of Hacker News, The Hub at Startup Revolution, I came across a post by Kuwaiti startup community leader Abdullah Alshalabi. Obviously he’s struggling with the same thing. Here’s how he explains it on his site StartupQ8

In a Startup you are:

Building a new product

Solving a new problem or fulfilling a new need

Entering a new market with new customers (doesn’t really know if there is a need or not)

Founders have a vision to scale and become a world class company

Very risky, yet very rewarding

Want to change the world to a better place

Attract bright and smart talents (employ more than 1,000 people in the long-term)

Revenue more than US$50M

In a Small Business you have:

Known product/service

Known Customer with known market

Low risk

Want to keep the business small or within the family

Have low potential to grow

Founder vision is to make enough money to feed the family

Attract cheap labor (create 10-100 jobs)

I definitely agree with most of the items in both lists. I’m not sure that a startup needs to employ 1,000 people in the long term. Revenue more than $50 million may be debatable as well, but the general consensus that you are creating a new product or tackling a new issue with your company are things I definitely agree with.

Entrepreneur

So I’ve said this a lot on nibletz.com and when speaking on the topic of startups, startup communities or startup vs small business, every startup founder is an entrepreneur, every entrepreneur isn’t necessarily a startup founder. There are several great entrepreneurs out there. In Memphis there is Shawn Tuohy for instance. He’s a restaurant entrepreneur he’s built his company into one of the biggest fast food franchisers in the region with over 80 establishments. Tuohy, also known for his infamous adopted son Michael Orr and the book and movie The Blind Side, has done very well. He’s a successful entrepreneur. Was he ever a startup founder? No.

You can check out Alshalabi’s entire post here. Every community needs small businesses. Luckily for them many communities have a support infrastructure in place, that’s been in place for several years. Small Business Councils, Chambers of Commerce and other organizations both big and small have always supported entrepreneurs.

Incubators, accelerators, and organizations like those are the support infrastructure for startups.

Check out one of the largest startup conference in the world, everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

Cleveland’s Bad Girl Ventures Announces New Class Session And $25,000 Contest

Women in tech and women in startups are quickly becoming a big thing across the country. Everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, is featuring a panel called “Kick Ass Female Founders From Everywhere Else”. Women’s entrepreneurial initiatives are popping up all over the place as well, like Memphis’ Upstart Memphis. Even young women are seeing more opportunities with things like Black Girls Code.

In Cleveland Ohio, Bad Girl Ventures is offering an educational series targeted to women and the opportunity to win a $25,000 low interest business loan. While some may gawk at the word “loan”, if you’ve been through the fundraising process, loans can actually be a better way to get early stage funding rather than giving up equity that can prove costly down the road.

Bad Girl Ventures, based in Cleveland, is taking applications for their next educational session, through next week. The application deadline is January 31st.

Bad Girl Ventures is a micro-lending organization that selects 10 entrepreneurs to participate in a nine week business course every spring and fall at no charge. The course offers mentorship, and curriculum which includes how to run a business, create a business plan, pitch and more. It’s put on in conjunction with Cleveland State University and CSU students, faculty and alumni serve as mentors, coaches and facilitators.

“Past participants say networking is one of the most valuable takeaways from the course,” said Reka Barabas, Director of Bad Girl Ventures Cleveland said in a statement. “In addition to education and possibly funding, our participants walk away with a business plan and 50 to 100-plus connections. This helps prepare them for growth whether they’re awarded the loan or not.”

“We select women entrepreneurs across a range of industries who demonstrate strong leadership capabilities,” said Barabas. “We encourage all applicants to research their business ideas and share details about the target audience, competitive edge and likelihood for success of their products/services.”

Women owned startups less than five years old are eligible to win the $25,000 low interest loan and free tuition for the course, although anyone is able to register for the course at $35 a session and $225 for the entire course.

Bad Girl Ventures has helped over 200 entrepreneurs and facilitated $115,000 in loans since 2011.

For more info visit badgirlventures.com

See the Kick Ass Female Founders from everywhere else panel and more at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, for more click here.

Acceleprise “The 500 Startups For Enterprise” Unveils First Class Of 2013

Less than a year ago DC based entrepreneurs, Sean Glass, Allen Gannett and Collin Gutman and others teamed up to form an accelerator in the Washington DC area devoted entirely to enterprise startups. When it was announced in April of 2012 TechCrunch dubbed Acceleprise the “500 Startups for enterprise”.

By July of 2013 they had their first class of six startups in house and began to dig into “enterprise”. Elana Fine the Managing Director at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship told the Washington Post that “enterprise companies also tend to retain customers for longer periods of time, creating a reliable source of revenue for the start-up.”

With the federal government and most of their biggest contractors in the Washington DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia area it’s only fitting that an enterprise focused accelerator planted it’s roots in the area.

This year, after a successful class over the summer, Acceleprise will be hosting three cohorts, the first of which was just announced. The class includes:

Aquicore: a startup that is collecting data from power companies on electricity usage. They plan to then take that data and analyze it to find inefficiencies which will ultimately save consumers and business owners money on their energy bills.

Edi.io is a social media monitoring startup that will analyze social media messages that companies plan to put out to the public. They’ll make sure that the content won’t come back to haunt them. They describe themselves as a company that mitigates enterprise and brand risk within social media by filtering outgoing corporate text engagement before it goes public.

Instant API, apps, apps, apps everyone wants to have an app. Companies big and small are looking to use apps to reach their customer base and to manage their internal business. This startup is creating a platform that makes it easy for companies to build API’s (application programming interfaces). In turn, they will make it easier for companies to create apps built on their own internal data.

LearnShark is a startup that will allow employees to score points for sharing useful content with other employees.

MetaLayer is a company that’s been getting lots of traction. CEO Jon Gosier basically describes the company as making big data easier for companies to manage. This data can be from survey’s, social media and other big data sets that companies need access to and understanding about.

StayNTouch is a hospitality startup that plans to simplify the way hotels handle guest interactions, sales, hotel information, on site social interaction and more. The engagements and interactions are managed by a cloud based platform that is easily accessible to hotel staff via smartphones and tablets.

TalentWire is a campus recruitment tool that will allow companies to identify, target and contact the best prospective talent before other companies.

TrackMaven is a marketing intelligence tool that’s pretty much in stealth mode at the moment.

You can find out more about the Acceleprise accelerator here at their website.

Raising Capital, Finding Talent and Accelerating, the important topics to startups “everywhereelse” will be featured prominently at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference

SplitThe Check, The Bill The Kitty With Kittysplit

You gotta love it when startups name themselves after exactly what they do. That’s the case with Berlin startup Kittysplit. The company, founded by Caspar Wrede and a team of four friends have found a way to split checks, and settle up when more than one person is paying for anything from a meal to a bar tab to a weekend holiday.

The app uses an easy three step wizard for splitting up the “kitty” and it’s free of charge.

When asked how they came up with the idea for Kittysplit, Wrede told nibletz.com “The ski trip where everyone has a different mix of how they got there, where they stayed, and what they ate — splitting the costs afterwards was a huge headache. The shared apartment whose expenses are kept via a mind-bogglingly complex Excel spreadsheet. We searched in vain for a painless solution online. Finally, the 5 of us got together, drank beer and stroked our chins, and set out to to make splitting costs as easy as humanly possible.”

For now the platform is web based. Wrede says an app is in the works but he wants to make sure that the mobile app doesn’t complicate things.

Check out the rest of our interview with Wrede below.

Kauffman Foundation To Present “State Of Entrepreneurship Address” February 5th In DC

The Kauffman Foundation, in conjunction with Bloomberg Television, will present the fourth annual State of Entrepreneurship Address on February 5, 2013. The address will be given at the historic National Press Club in downtown Washington DC, just blocks from the White House. The event takes place from noon until 2:00pm.

The address will be presented by Tom McDonnell the CEO and President of the Kauffman Foundation. He will discuss policy ideas for financing entrepreneurial growth. Remarks will also be made by Karen Mills the Administrator of the US Small Business Administration.

Lunch and a panel discussion featuring Chance Barnett, co-founder and CEO, crowdfunder; Jeff Fagnan, partner, Atlas Venture; Donna Harris, managing director of Startup Regions, Startup America Partnership; Ramana Nanda, associate professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Alan Patricof, founder and managing director, Greycroft Partners. The discussion will be moderated by Robert Litan, director of research, Bloomberg.gov, will immediately follow.

If you want to hear where entrepreneurship stands in 2013 along with plans to continue fueling America’s economy with a focus on startups, then you don’t want to miss this event.

Advance registration is required and you can do so here, by January 28, 2013.

Find out about the state of startups everywhere else, at everywhereelse.co The Startup Conference, the largest single venue startup conference in the U.S.

Spottlife Aiming To Simplify Your Social Life

People in today’s world have been inundated with social networks. Many people want to be a part of as many social networks as they can because they don’t want to miss anything from anyone important to them. This is a daunting task though when you consider managing just the most popular social networks on a day to day basis.

Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Instagram can be a pain in the butt to manage. When you’re on your smartphone it’s a constant, battery draining, switch from network to network.

That’s why many startups have taken to creating social network aggregation tools. Spottlife is one of those tools with a different twist.

Using the Spottlife mobile app users can aggregate all of their social content into one app. They can also use the app to post to all or one social network at a time. These features certainly aren’t new, we’ve been using tools like Hootsuite for that part, for a long while. Where Spottlife differs in it’s clean and fairly intuitive UI. It also provides you with aggregated updates of not just your variety of social networks but based on what’s trending and popular with your friends.

For instance today the most popular topics are probably the Inauguration, the Super Bowl and Martin Luther King day. Spottlife with show you the most popular topics and a number indicating how many of your friends are talking about this topic. Users also have the ability to filter out certain topics that might not pertain to them.

Brandon Mihai and Scott Gammenthaler are the cofounders of the Chattanooga startup. Mihai tells us in an interview that he has put his studies on hold from Southern Adventist University in Chattanooga, to focus on Spottlife. Gammenthaler is pulling double duty, serving as the CEO of Spottlife and preparing for college graduation in the spring. The startup is incubating at co.lab in Chattanooga.

Check out our interview with Mihai below.