The Need To Get His School Life Organized Sparks Young Entrepreneur’s Semester Planner

Marcell Purham always knew he wanted to start something. He started coding and developing a little over 7 years ago when he was just 13 years old. His love of developing started with easy stuff like helping his friends code their MySpace pages. As time went on he got more and more into design and learning every language he could. Purham is the kind of guy that soaks up knowledge from wherever he can get it, so he attends as many startup events in Chicago as he can and spends his freetime reading up on everything in the tech and startup world.

Now a college student, Purham quickly realized that his brain was overflowing with information, which made it really hard for him to stay focused and organized in school. That’s why he created Semester Planner. “Think Online Trapper Keeper,” Purham told Nibletz in an interview. (Is he even old enough to remember the Trapper Keeper?)

Semester Planner is a student planning app that captures everything in a student’s academic life, including notes, class schedule, calendar, and more. It organizes all the information in an easy-to-recall platform that keeps everything by semester. It also makes it really easy to find things later.

We got a chance to talk with Purham. Check out our text and video interviews with Purham below.

What is your startup called?

Semester Planner.

What does your company do?

Semester Planner is a free online planner that helps students keep track of their notes, classes, assignments, and documents.

Who are the founders, and what are their backgrounds

There is only one founder and his name is Marcell Purham. Marcell is a software developer with 7+ years of developing for web. He started out at 13 learning to code and writing code for friends on myspace then took it to the next level by moving onto design and finally programming.

Where are you based?

We are based in Chicago, IL.

What problem do you solve?

The problem we’re solve are allowing students to access their notes, assignments, documents, and classes on the go or while they’re in school.

Why now?

Honestly as a student myself I needed something to help me keep track of all my semester classes, notes, assignments etc. So as I took on more classes I did not want to carry around all those heavy textbooks and finally decided to solve that problem, for not only myself but also for other students.

What are some of the milestones your startup has already reached?

We’ve achieved a lot within the first 6 months(Launched in January 2013). Over 100 students from my community college signed up and used it for their semester and also some kids from others schools. We’ve had over 2,000 chrome downloads for semester planner and our likes on Facebook are constantly going up.

What are your next milestones?

Right now I am working on the Android version of the application and hope to release it sometime this year to students and I am talking with a friend on getting this developed for iOS also so that what we’re up to for now. Also we’re getting feedback from users and seeing if they’re things they love about the site and hate so that becomes very useful to us.

Where can people find out more? Any social media links you want to share?

If you would like to learn more about semester planner check it out on our website, Facebook or twitter.

Twitter – http://twitter.com/semesterplanner

facebook – https://www.facebook.com/semesterplanner

Semester Planner – https://semesterplanner.com

Now check out our video interview with Purham

We’ve got more Chicago TechWeek coverage than any other source, check it out here.

FreeOsk Automates Free Samples

You see some crazy new things at tech conferences. One of our favorites at Chicago TechWeek was the large booth full of Pringles. Kendall was happy to explain.

FreeOsk will be placed in retail outlets across the country and stocked with whatever free samples the retailer wants to give out. Beauty supplies, food, travel products. Anything that will fit through the vending slot.

When the customer comes in, they can just swipe their loyalty card and a free sample comes out. In outlets like drugstores or WalMart, the free sample offerings could change every week, giving customers yet another reason to come back.

Check out our quick interview with Kendall from FreeOsk.

Check out more of our Chicago TechWeek startup coverage here.

I’m Up All Night To GetLusty, Check Out This Chicago Startup

“End Boring Sex”

That’s the motto of Chicago startup GetLusty. GetLusty is an online platform geared towards married couples and couples in long term relationships. “Sometimes the lust just runs out, and you’re still very much in love,” founder Erica Grigg told us at Chicago TechWeek.

Grigg, who previously founded a digital agency, started GetLusty after the lust in her marriage died out. She’s not ashamed to let people know that her and her husband’s sex life had become repetitive and it was the same thing every time.

The Ladies Home Journal reports that Grigg’s sex life dried up because she and her husband couldn’t communicate properly about it. “She was too nervous to explore what turned her on, and her husband was equally dudly (not studly) in his inability to reassure and encourage her,” wrote Amy Keyishian writer for the Ladies Home Journal.

GetLusty is a well thought out, professional web platform. It features over 800 articles on how to improve your sex life. They also have a marketplace with hand selected merchants and a guide to curated, safe events. Nothing about the GetLusty website screams PORN. The content focuses on areas like: getting better sexual technique, improving communication, date more and date better, increasing adventure and staying healthy.

Grigg is adamant about GetLusty being about couples, to help couples improve their sex lives.

The company launched into beta just in time for Valentine’s Day this year. They were one of 70 startups featured in StarutpCity at Chicago TechWeek. Check out our video interview with Grigg below. Ready to end boring sex? Go to getlusty.com

Check out some more startups from Chicago TechWeek

Former Groupon Employee’s Startup Scalpr Is The Uber of Ticket Sales

Get this: Sometimes startups actually LEAVE Silicon Valley and move to “everywhere else.”

That’s what Scalpr did. They quickly found that the market for last minute ticket sales wasn’t hot in San Francisco. So, rather than finding an idea that fit the city, they up and moved to where they knew they’re idea was viable.

So, what does the Chicago-based company do? Basically, they make it easy to buy last minute tickets from other fans. For example, let’s say I had tickets to a Memphis Grizzlies game, but then my boss tells me I have to work late (jerk). Rather than letting the tickets go to waste, I can throw them up on Scalpr and let someone else enjoy the game instead.

Check out Kyle’s interview to see how it works.

We’ve got even more great startup coverage from Chicago TechWeek here.

Polish Startup Nearbox Wins Google For Entrepreneurs Trip To Chicago!

Google For Entrepreneurs hosted a contest in Poland and brought over a few startups to show off their stuff at Chicago TechWeek. Nearbox was one of those startups.

Nearbox is a social network of sorts, where you follow places rather than people. Each place has an online billboard where they can post messages, videos, and texts. It’s a great way to communicate with customers, friends, and even neighbors. They call it a “virtual mailbox,” where the place can leave a message.

In nearbox every place is a community, and anyone can join that community’s place. It’s a communication tool that brings the discussion to a hyperlocal level.

With Nearbox the person who’s administering the place can interact with that place’s community any way they want. Are you having a house party? You can send out the invite. Is your place a restaurant? Use Nearbox to post your food specials. Is your place a bar or tavern? You can post your drink specials or entertainment schedule. But more than just a bulletin board, Nearbox allows you to interact with everyone in your place’s community.

Schools, neighborhoods, businesses, and even rec centers can have a place on Nearbox, facilitating community involvement.

In addition to winning the Google for Entrepreneurs contest, the startup, which just launched a few months ago, has also won awards from T-Mobile , InternetBeta 2012, and Innovation Nest. They also closed a small $25,000 round which was plenty to get the idea off the ground.

They launched in Poland and plan to expand globally this year.

Check out our interview with nearbox below and for more info visit nearbox.pl

Check out these other startup stories from Chicago TechWeek.

Impatience Fuels Another Wait List Startup In Chicago

Impatience is one of the biggest problems that entrepreneurs try to solve with their startups. Last year at Chicago TechWeek, we saw two different startups tackling the problem of waiting in line: NoWait and LineChop.

The problem is very simple, especially in large cities like Chicago. Come Friday or Saturday night, the last thing you want to do is wait in line for hours for your favorite restaurant. This happens in almost any town in the country, and until now it’s just been something you dealt with.

NextMe is the latest startup from Chicago to tackle the wait list problem. A restaurant signs up for the service, and a patron checks in at the host stand. Then their name goes on the wait list, and when the table becomes available, bam, you get a text message.

This comes in handy when you’re eating at a restaurant in a large shopping center, or there’s a bookstore across the street you want to check out. Previously you would either have to wait for your name to get called over a loud speaker or carry around a pager with a very limited radius. Sure people would ask for an approximate wait time and try and go somewhere and come back, but that could be thwarted by an uptick in table turns or other patrons deciding to leave the queue.

NextMe wants to help you enjoy your wait. Check out our interview below and for more info visit them on the web at nextmeapp.com

There’s a whole lot more startup coverage from Chicago TechWeek Here.

Billion Dollar Startups In A Beautiful Infographic

Everyone wants to be the next billion dollar startup, but so far not many have been fortunate enough to get there. It takes a lot of work and huge customer adoption to even come close.

Facebook, Twitter, Square, Airbnb, and Groupon are just a few of the household names that have made it to a billion dollar valuation. If you’re curious about what it takes to get to a billion dollar valuation, Staff.com has put together a beautiful infographic outlining some key factors behind startups valued at a billion dollars or more.

The infographic takes a look at 14 startups that have been valued at a billion dollars (or really damn close like Instagram). Facebook, Twitter, Workday, DropBox, Groupon, Square, HomeAway, Spotify, Zynga, Airbnb, Box, Evernote, and Instagram are all featured in the infographic.

One of the most interesting facts in the research is that Facebook has a market value that is greater than all of the other companies combined. Wow!

Another very interesting fact is number of employees. Facebook has nearly 4,000 employees and Instagram (now part of Facebook) has just 13. DropBox, which ranked 4th on the list by valuation has 194 employees, and Zynga which ranks 9th has nearly 3,000 employees.

If you’re thinking a billion dollar valuation would sure be nice, check out the infographic below:

Staff.com also chronicled the failure of startups in this infographic.

British Startup FutureYear Is Twitter For The Future

So when I first heard about FutureYear and how they billed themselves as “Twitter For The Future,” I had to take a step back and actually check it out. They weren’t implying that they were the next Twitter, but rather a social network for things that haven’t happened yet.

I poked around a bit and found out that the social network combines birthdays, events, and even forward-thinking historical tidbits about that particular day. Users are posting about graduating from college, holidays, starting vacations, and even startup events. Unlike Facebook it takes a microblogging approach to this information, and other users can join in the conversation.

Like Twitter, FutureYear users post in 140 characters or less in what they call “Sparks.” A spark can also include a location tag or a photo.

We got a chance to talk with FutureYear cofounder Nick Howland. Check out our interview below.

What is your startup called?

FutureYear http://futureyear.com

What does your company do?

FutureYear is a social network focused purely on the future tense of the lives of people, celebrities, and brands. As the name suggests, we focus on the year ahead, the next 365 days. The best way to describe us is ‘Twitter for the future’ – ‘What’s happening this year…’

Who are the founders, and what are their backgrounds:

Nick Howland, CEO, is a web development and marketing specialist who has been involved in setting up several online businesses. Nick has been responsible for the product development strategy, website development, marketing and branding of the website.

Kevin Griffiths is degree and master’s degree qualified and has for the past 11 years has run software and technology companies working in various sectors and with large blue-chip organisations.

Gavin Donlon has founded and owns several Internet businesses. Gavin has a strong vision for the product and adds value to the features and usability of the site.

Gary Aston has spent the past 30 years working in the technology sector and has tremendous expertise in software development, collecting, storing, manipulating, and reporting on huge volumes of data.

Where are you based?

Newcastle-under-Lyme, England, UK

What problem do you solve?

Discover what your friends, inspirational people and favourite brands have planned for the next day, week, month, or year. Immerse yourself with what’s happening around the world, or get involved locally, all on a particular day in the future year. Our aim is to make the future more open and data rich, so that people can make informed decisions on what to do in their future.

Why now?

There is a gap in social networking that we recognised in late 2010. Facebook focuses on the past, connecting past friends made and memories. Twitter is all about now, what’s happening now. Foursquare is about location discovery in the present, now. Our focus is to fill the gap in the social spectrum, FutureYear’s focus is on the future.

What are some of the milestones your startup has already reached?

We’re now in version 0.3 of our beta launch. Our site uses responsive design and can be accessed from any device – desktop, mobile, or tablet. Having launched only a few weeks ago we already have a growing and engaged userbase of 700 users from around the world.

What are your next milestones?

To release native iOS and Android apps and to grow our userbase internationally.

Where can people find out more? Any social media links you want to share?

Website – http://futureyear.com

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/futureyear

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/futureyear

Tumblr – http://futureyear.tumblr.com/

This 22 year old entrepreneur moved from New York to London and then raised 1 million pounds.

Cap Innovators Startup BidRazor Is Shaving The Time Off Contractor’s Bids…By A Lot

We ran into a handful of good St. Louis startups at Chicago TechWeek, including our friends at Bonfyre, a classified ads startup Ad Freeq, and BidRazor, a graduate of the most recent class at Capital Innovators.

Mike Pulley and his co-founder Cameron Larsen have developed a platform for contractors that shaves the time it takes to bid on a project down from 20 hours over 3 or 4 weeks to just 2-4 hours. The main ingredient in shaving the time is “standardization” Pulley told us in an interview. Basically the app takes into consideration historical data on previous projects along with other mitigating factors that allow the contractor to more easily bid out the job.

BidRazor is the first of the duo’s apps that they are developing to help the contracting industry. They are also working on a project management app to help contractors keep better track of every piece of data they need for a building project. That was actually their earlier idea, but then they figured that contractors have to win the job before they can manage it. So far that’s paying off.

Having just graduated from the accelerator, the company already has customers and revenue, and the response has been phenomenal. Cutting back on the time it takes to bid out a project is allowing contractors to spend more time on their current projects, and in some cases, spend more time with their families. It’s a win for everyone.

They also already have a major partnership with Magic Plan, an app that creates floor plans. Now contractors can have bids and floor planes right on their iPhones or iPads.

Check out our video interview below and for more info visit them at bidrazor.com

We’ve got more startup coverage from Chicago TechWeek here.

The Evolution Of Chicago’s Tech & Startup Scene In An Infographic

We travel all across the country and check out startup communities and ecosystems everywhere else. One of the ones that caught our eye early on is Chicago.

Going back to the early 1900’s Chicago has had hustle. Much like many don’t want to succumb to the fact that drug kingpins (the ones that don’t get caught) are the grittiest of hard working entrepreneurs, Chicago has heart, hustle and loyalty that can date back to the seedy underworld that once played home to the most notorious of gangsters Al Caone and later Sam Giancana.

Why in the world did I go there? First off it’s history but secondly the Chicago startup ecosystem is an extremely loyal bunch. They help each other in good and bad and they lift each other up whenever and where ever they can. That’s why, despite the fact that Chicago produces 100 startup events a month, the entire community comes out for Chicago TechWeek.

Staples in industry like United Airlines, Fannie May and Sears grew up in Chicago, with countless others.

And then when technology took off (and despite what PandoDaily once said) BOOM! Chicago’s tech ecosystem and infrastructure skyrocketed which is still what it’s doing today.

Most recently we know the stories of GrubHub and Groupon but back in 1984 (yes 1984 before many startup founders were born), IT mail order powerhouse CDW was founded in Chicago. Millions of people have bought computers, storage, printers and other peripherals from the three letter giant.

Chicago also revolutionized and re-invented the classifieds department across multiple categories starting with CareerBuilder in the mid 90’s. Then in the late 90’s cars.com and apartments.com launched, in Chicago. Chicago also has one of our favorite regional startup sites to visit, builtinchicago.com.

Let us also not forget that Motorola is based right outside of Chicago.

All of this is why one of Chicago’s other big startups, BigMarker, went ahead and made this trusty infographic highlighting the history of Chicago’s Tech Scene as a celebration of their tech community on TechWeek.

Oh and regardless of size, Chicago holds one mean tech party during TechWeek second only to the VegasTech party at SXSW.

Click here to actually read or print this thing (enlarge)

Here’s more Chicago Techweek startup coverage.

What A Beer Pong Startup Part Deux [VIDEO]

Startups are synonymous with Ping Pong, Beer Pong, and Fooseball right? As a right of passage, many startups that move into a new office, get some kind of funding, or start generating revenue add a table game (or 3) to their office. Heck some startup offices have full arcades.

Back when we were at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 we met New York startup PaddleYou. They make custom affordable custom Ping Pong paddles. They actually made us one as well that you can see in this story.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel stops by to play defense on a C5 beer pong table (photo: C5 Beer Pong/Chicago)

So it shouldn’t surprise you that we found a Beer Pong startup at Chicago TechWeek. Actually, we discovered the Beer Pong startup last May when we interviewed them as Chippewa Five. Since then, cofounders Daniel Manriquez and Joe Mollo have shortened the name, improved the tables, and picked up some new customers.

They’ve shortened the name of the company to the much trendier C5 Beer Pong. They had several of their Beer Pong tables on display at Bar TechWeek throughout the three day conference.

The custom made Beer Pong tables aren’t just for frat guys. Zynga was their first customer, and Facebook has purchased a table from them as well. Cab hailing startup Hailo also has a C5 table which was on display at TechWeek.

Last year when we interviewed them we didn’t get to see their tables up close. After seeing them at TechWeek, we may just have to get one in the Nibletz office and for the everywhereelse conference.

Check out our video interiew with Mollo below and for more info visit c5beerpong.com

A lot more TechWeek startup coverage is here.

Chicago TechWeek Has The Sexiest Startup City In The Country

Most big tech conferences have some kind of startup exhibition area. They go by various names: Startup Village, Startup Alley, Eureka Park, etc. This year, Chicago TechWeek has “Startup City,” and we love it (homage to Patrick Stump).

There are 70 startups in Startup City, and we’ll have a lot of profiles and interviews coming soon. But as we toured the Startup City, we couldn’t help but notice that there’s no shortage of startups on the racier side this year.

Get Lusty is a Chicago startup designed for married couples and couples in long term relationships that want to improve their sex lives. The company founders are a husband and wife team that found the bedroom was getting boring. Their solution? Launch a startup together, of course!

Savvo is the wine aficionado’s resource for all things wine.

F. U I’m Right is the ultimate argument platform, where you can get your social networks to support your argument. Interestingly, though, Boris, the company’s founder, told us he found that he was actually wrong a lot more than he thought.

There are a bunch of other great startups in Chicago TechWeek’s Startup City, but you can imagine why these instantly caught our eye. Stay tuned for more from TechWeek and Startup City.

We’ve got more startup coverage from Chicago TechWeek Here.

Know Who’s Around You At Events With 1871 Startup WeaveThePeople

Here are Nibletz we get out into the community and go to a lot (and we mean A LOT) of startup conferences and events. Sure, after spending the last 7 or so years in tech media there are a lot of faces I remember, but there are also a lot that I don’t know. Yes, I would love to know who’s around me at an event that I am at.

This is a problem that several big named startups have been trying to solve. At SXSW 2012 people discovery was the “big thing”: Banjo, Highlight, and several others wanted to help people know who was at SXSW. The problem was they were all GPS, location, and proximity based. The problem manifested itself when people would look for other people they knew who were right on top of them according to the app but could still be in the next building. When you’re in a building or an event with 1000s if not 10s of thousands of people, this is still a daunting task.

WeaveThePeople, a startup incubating at 1871 in Chicago, is solving the problem with a beautifully rich and graphical platform. Using pictures and profiles, you can easily see who’s at the event. It doesn’t drill down to who’s standing next to you, but with the big and bold visual aspect of WeaveThePeople, dusting off your glasses should make it easier to connect.

Paul Caswell, the founder of Weave The People, is from East Chicago where he’s lived for 15 years. (He’s a native of Manchester though; that’s where he gets the cool accent). He grew up coding, developing his first games at age 13. In 2000 Application Development Trends honored him with an Innovator Award. Most of his career he was developing for other people.

WeaveThePeople combines his love of coding and technology with solving a problem that he found first hand in the corporate world, the exact same problem I described above.

Check out our video interview with Caswell below and for more information visit weavethepeople.com

We’ve got a lot more startup coverage from Chicago TechWeek here at nibletz.com

Florida Entrepreneur Turns Love Of Theme Parks Into New Media Startup ThrillGeek

For a lot of kids who grow up in Florida or move to Florida at a young age, the novelty of theme parks wears out. I have a bunch of friends from Florida in their 20’s and 30’s who can’t stand the thought of Disney parks. The traffic, the congestion of people, and prices that are driven up because of a year-round flocking of tourists make residents run away when it’s vacation time.

That’s not the case for Clint Gamache. Gamache loved thrill rides, roller coasters, and theme parks when his family moved to Florida 20 years ago, and today he still does. In fact he loves theme parks so much he started a new media company called ThrillGeek.

Gamache, who is a data collector for a major rental company by day and an Android fan and developer by night, decided to forego the typical technology blog and launch ThrillGeek.

ThrillGeek combines Gamache’s loves of photography, videos, and story telling with his love of theme parks into a simple, easy-to-understand and navigate website for anyone to find out about the latest rides, park news, and specials. Theme park operators are starting to catch on as well, and they’ve been giving Gamache access to new ride launches and early news.

Just in time for 4th of July vacation planning, we got a chance to catch up with Gamache. Check out our interview below:

What is your startup called?

Our startup is called thrillgeek.com.

What does your company do?

We are a website dedicated to covering and sharing the world of theme park news. We are a simple, straightforward theme park news website. We report videos, photos and even some sounds from the theme park world, all in a simple to read blog format.

Who are the founders, and what are their backgrounds

The founder of Thrillgeek is Clint Gamache. Clint has been into theme parks ever since his parents have moved me down here to the sunny state of Florida almost 20 years ago. Ever since his first visit to the theme parks here in Orlando, I have found myself fascinated with everything they have to offer. From the rides, shows and everything in-between, they are a fascinating place to visit and explore. I enjoy photography, videography and of course, spending time at our local theme parks here in Orlando, Florida.

Where are you based?

Thrillgeek is based in the sunny state of Florida! Home to some of the best theme parks in the world!

What problem do you solve?

I created Thrillgeek with the mindset that many other theme park blogs are extremely busy and are overwhelming. You go to some of the other theme park blogs and you are overwhelmed with vacation planning information, reservations and other information that some of the more hardcore theme park nuts like me don’t really want to see. We just want the breaking theme park news!

Why does it matter?

Millions of people visit theme parks every year. There are a select few people though that enjoy reading theme park news. That is where Thrillgeek comes in. Many theme park websites out there offering many things, such as vacation planning, and other stuff that the theme park nuts do not want. We matter because we want to be a simple theme park news, photo and video website in a simple to read blog format.

What are some of the milestones your startup has already reached?

We started off fairly small as all blogs do, but we are growing every month and have increased our viewers every month. We started almost 4 months ago and started with about 3,000 hits the first month. June is coming to a close and we are already passed 6,000 viewers with a little bit of time to go in the month. We recently have covered major grand openings of some of the biggest area theme parks, including the grand opening of Transformers: The Ride 3D at Universal Orlando and the new Antarctica attraction at SeaWorld Orlando.

What are your next milestones?

Thrillgeek has begun building media relationships with the local area theme parks. Our next event will be at Legoland Florida to cover the grand opening of their new ride. We are currently funding a indiegogo crowdfunding program to help raise money for new camera equiptment. Over the past few months we have doubled in viewership, and I hope this growth continues.

Where can people find out more? Any social media links you want to share?

Thrillgeek has all of the social media platforms. Our Facebook page can found here, our Twitter here and our Flickr page can be found here.

Our Twitter handle is @thrillgeek

Now check out Aspiredu the Florida startup that won $25,000 at everywhereelse.co

image: 15pictures.com