Boulder Tech Is OK! Mobilizing To Help Those In The Canyon

Boulder startups, Brad Feld, David Cohen, Techstars, Boulder Floods

Techstars David Cohen took to Twitter to report everyone was ok and helped mobilize cleanup efforts

Brad Feld, the author of Startup Communities and the founder and managing director of Foundry Group, is one of the Boulder tech community’s most notable figures and a champion for startups and Colorado. When news broke out about the intense downpours and rain that hammered Boulder over this past weekend Feld was vacationing at Vail and watching the coverage on TV, reports USA Today.

Feld keeps a condominium in downtown Boulder, but his primary home is in the nearby mountains. By most accounts the town of Boulder weathered the storm quite well. It was those in the canyon and in the mountains that were hit hardest. Feld took to his popular blog, Feld Thoughts, to let people know that he was a-ok but he wasn’t able to get to his home in the mountains.

One of the biggest themes when Feld and others talk about Boulder is the tight knit community that’s formed around entrepreneurs, technology, and startups. Last July when wild fires ravaged parts of Colorado, Boulder’s tech community banded together to raise money through fundraising drives, t-shirt sales, and other impromptu crowdfunding efforts to help others.

The same holds true today after the floods and rain.

Techstars co-founder David Cohen echoed Feld’s initial sentiment reporting on Twitter that the town of Boulder was ok, but the canyon roads were washed out. Feld also took to Twitter to organize people to help others who had flooded basements. 15 people quickly mobilized just off Cohen’s tweets.

Techstars alum Benny Joseph, whose startup GoodApril was acquired by Intuit before demo day this year, wanted to give back as well. USA Today reports that although GoodApril has moved to the California offices of Intuit, Boulder had a special place in their hearts,and they donated $20,000 to clean up efforts.

Boulder again has shown the community in “Startup Community”

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Luke Beatty Exits Position As Managing Director Of Techstars Boulder

Luke Beatty, startup founder, Techstars, Managing directorTechstars flagship Boulder program had some news on Monday  that may have been troubling to some at first. Luke Beatty, the program’s Managing Director, has stepped down.

Beatty began his career at Techstars as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence before he moved up to his current role as Managing Director. He took on that role as predecessor Nicole Glarros segued to a similar position at Techstars New York program. That was to fill the void from Techstars NY’s Dave Tisch stepping down to start Box Group.

Beatty is being tight lipped about why he is stepping down but did tell the Boulder County Business Report that “I have a once-in-a-lifetime chance (to be announced later), that I just can’t pass up – one that wouldn’t allow me to live up to the TechStars promise if I were to try to juggle.”

“Luke is staying very close to the Boulder program, and Nicole is taking it back over,” TechStars co-founder and chief executive David Cohen said in an email Monday,

Beatty is an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, one of those guys that preaches the startup and entrepreneur lifestyle. He also takes pride in being annoying and hyperactive.  “I will remain annoyingly (hyper) active and will forever be engaged with the 11 companies that were in this summer’s cohort in Boulder.” he said on his blog.

Beatty was the founder of Associated Content which was acquired by Yahoo in the pre-Mayer era. After the acquisition he stayed on at Yahoo as a Vice President before leaving for Techstars.

Glaros will move back to Boulder and take over as Managing Director.

Beatty oversaw the most recent graduating class at Techstars Boulder which included GoodApril, a tax planning startup that was actually acquired before completing the program.

Of course you can find out more at techstars.com

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Angie’s List Acquires Denver Startup BrightNest

BrightNest, Denver startup, Angie's List, Indiana startup

On Friday it was announced that Indiana-based Angie’s list, the worlds largest referral startup, has acquired Denver startup BrightNest.

BrightNest was founded in 2011 in Denver’s River North Arts District.  The startup is a community-based platform centered around homeowners. They offer tips, tools, and ideas that they say will “shape up your home and simplify your life.”

While Angie’s List is a great place to find a handyman to change a door, over the years their offerings have evolved to include contractors, carpenters, and other service people who can help complete long renovation projects and bigger home improvements.

With  BrightNest incorporated into the Angie’s List site, home owners will be able to get suggestions for projects and then find the people they need to work on the projects.

“The only way to transform the local services industry is to solve real problems in a bigger, better, and new way,” Angie’s List Chief Executive Officer Bill Oesterle said in a statement. “With two million members and more than 18 years in this space, no one has better data on local service providers than Angie’s List. BrightNest adds a user-friendly front end and personalized member experience to our marketplace platform which is built on rules, tools and transparency.”

Angie’s List also announced the national rollout of its new communication and scheduling tools. In the second quarter, Angie’s List processed more than 116,000 transactions on its marketplace platform. This represents a tiny fraction of the total transactions that flow through Angie’s List. “We’ve been quietly transforming the way local service is transacted, and we are now in a position to scale it. We will put the platform everywhere our members want it to be, including web, mobile ,and call center,” said Oesterle.

In the new marketplace, Angie’s List can monitor and evaluate each transaction as it progresses through to completion. “If a transaction gets stuck at any point, we are going to step in and fix it,” said Oesterle. “We have the critical mass and the relationships with local service providers that allow us to change service outcomes.”

BrightNest Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Justin Anthony echoed Oesterle’s statement. “We’re excited to join a trusted brand and help facilitate the solution to make it even easier to hire local service providers. Our tools and interactive content allow us to tailor a custom experience for every member because no two homes and no two homeowners are exactly alike.”

Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Angie’s List acquired basically all of the assets of BrightNest for $2.65 million in cash. The cash value included $2.15 million at closing and $0.5 million payable at the one-year anniversary of closing, subject to certain performance criteria. Angie’s List funded the acquisition with existing cash. In addition, Angie’s List will grant options to purchase $3.65 million of Angie’s List common stock to the members of the BrightNest team, all of whom have been retained by Angie’s List. The transaction closed on August 2, 2013.

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Broncos Turn To Local Denver Startup Wayin To Get More Socially Active

Denver Broncos, Wayin, Denver startup

On Friday the Denver Broncos launched a new socially-charged website to help fans stay better engaged with their favorite team. The effort is starting now, during training camp, and will continue through the regular season.

Broncos fans can go to denverbroncos.com/social where they will find an aggregated home screen with all of the official Denver Bronco’s Twitter and Facebook feeds. The official @denverbroncos Twitter account, along with the Bronco’s TV Twitter account, Bronco’s cheerleaders, and several actual Broncos players have their latest Bronco-related tweets and status updates in one central location so that socially active fans can engage.

Right now, during training camp, the site is encouraging fans to look up and use the hashtag #broncoscamp. Using that tag fans can find the latest behind-the-scene goings-ons at Bronco’s training camp.

To pull off this next evolution of fan interaction, the Denver Broncos turned to local Denver startup Wayin, who has already had success creating social pages for the Atlanta Falcons and the St. Louis Rams.

Wayin is an official certified Twitter partner.

“When people want to talk about what is real and current, they do so on Twitter,” Wayin’s senior director of product Hunter Ansley said in a statement. “Enabling brands to display Twitter’s unparalleled in-the-moment content to further engage their followers is a goal we aim to accomplish with our Hubs.”

The Denver Post reports that in addition to The Atlanta Falcons, Wayin was also the social startup of choice for Cheverolet’s SXSW efforts last March in Austin, Texas.

The Denver startup has already raised in excess of $20 million dollars and is chaired by Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy.

Marc Freeman, the Denver Broncos Senior Vice President of Business Development told The Denver Post that team wanted to create “an engaging experience that gives fans minute-by-minute updates.” Our fans are extremely tuned into social media, making tools like Twitter more important than ever before,” Freeman said.

You can find out more about Wayin here at wayin.com

The St. Louis Rams also use St. Louis startup Bonfyre to engage with fans socially on site at home games.

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Building the Colorado Ecosystem Just Got a Little Easier

Startup Colorado Community Fund, startups, Colorado, FundingI went to a great event here in Memphis this week. Rather than the typical happy hour, the event started at 8–after work, gym, and dinner. (And, in my case, kids’ bedtimes.) It wasn’t focused on any one industry in the city, but rather on 20-30somethings across all areas. There was a great turn out, and lots of new connections made. The very thing a healthy ecosystem needs.

Now, the guy who organized it is very well-respected in Memphis, and it wasn’t hard for him to raise the money for the event and the next few coming up. But, what if Memphis were farther along in the ecosystem-building continuum? What if there were events every single day, hosted by multiple entrepreneurs and for multiple reasons?

According to Brad Feld, that’s exactly what’s happening in Colorado right now. In Boulder and Denver alone, there are often as many as 5 different events in a day. None of these are particularly expensive on their own, but as they scale, the entrepreneurs hosting them have to find money to pay for that. And with that many events in a concentrated area–well, there’s only so much money to go around.

That’s why Feld and several others are creating a $200,000 fund to help. In partnership with Startup Colorado, the fund with support “activities, events, and organizations in the Colorado startup community.”

Each quarter the fund will hand out grants to entrepreneurs organizing events for the community. Those grants will range from $1000-$25,000. This isn’t an investment or a loan. Rather, it plays into Feld’s Boulder Thesis and helps drive the things he believes are necessary for a strong ecosystem. The entrepreneurs who organize these events usually do it on the side; they are also busy building their companies. The grants from the Startup Colorado Community Fund will make it easier on them to also contribute to the state’s ecosystem as a whole.

The fund will offer grants across the state, but focus on Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins. For more information, check out the video below and visit the Startup Colorado Community Fund website.

 

The Startup Colorado Community Fund from Startup Colorado on Vimeo.

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Techstars Boulder Announces Summer 2013 Class

Techstars,Techstars Boulder, startup,acceleratorWhile the spring season for startup accelerators is coming to close with a variety of demo days across the country, the summer season is warming up. In fact today we’ll be reporting on three startup accelerators kicking off their summer program. We start the day with Techstars Boulder.

Techstars is one of the most successful startup accelerator programs in the world. They yield thousands of applications every year and only a handful of the best startups get picked to build their products as Techstars branded startups.

Without further ado here are the startups that got into Techstars flagship program, the Summer 2013 session at Techstars Boulder, Colorado:

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 11.08.04 PMHull is like Startup Weekend online. Their website claims that you can build social apps in a weekend rather than in weeks. Hull handles hosting,social mechanics, and services integration so the person creating the social app can focus on the features.

 

lechatLeChat hails from Oakland California and promises to be the next revolutionary messaging app. Their website says they are “messaging for modern organizations” and support a host of features including search history, multiple chats on screen, integration with dev tools, native mobile apps and a price poing of $1 per user per month.

 

Augur
According to the Techstars website Augur is a platform that makes mobile and web personal by        intelligently tailoring the experience of each user.

 

givengoodsGiven Goods blends social entrepreneurship with e-commerce in a beautiful website that only sells products that give back. Sometimes here at nibletz we call this “slacktivism”, think Toms and other products that make a difference in the community.

 

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 11.18.01 PM

 

Local startup Elihuu has a funny name with a serious mission. Their platform allows product people to design beautiful products and they help take care of the manufacturing. Their website says: Democratizing the process of design, invention, and manufacturing. We believe new technologies change the thinking around the production of consumer products.

 

brandfolderBrandfolder gives users the tools to build a brand book that would typically cost thousands of dollars from an agency, easily and from a web based platform. While they plan to offer a premium paid product later on, their website says their branding tools will always offer a free option.

 

prediculousAccording to the Techstars website Prediculous is building social sports games for all fans. It looks like this Boulder based startup is pivoting from a social prediction game to something worthy of a much larger audience. Find them online here.

 

 

GoodaprilThis bay area startup offers tax monitoring tools that users can use all year long in hopes to help them have a “good April” Mitchell Fox, co-founder of GoodApril has penned guest posts on several startup focused sites about preparing for and being proactive about tax season. Check them out here

 

adsnativeAds native is an ad server for native content based advertising. Their website says that you can monetize without compromising user-experience. You can find them online here.

 

 

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 11.33.20 PMWe met the guys from Snowshoe last year on the sneaker strapped road trip when we stopped in Madison Wisconsin. They seem to have pivoted a little bit since then, now using their original technology as an authentication layer for the internet of things.

 

 

Are you working on your pitch? Check out The Anatomy of a winning pitch deck.

We Talk Starting Up At CES With Ian Bernstein CoFounder Of Sphero

Sphero, Orbotix, Boulder startup, Colorado startup,starutps, Ian Bernstein, Brad Feld, CES 2013, CES video Imagine you want to create something. In the case of Ian Bernstein and Adam Wilson, that thing was a platform to create robotics controlled by smartphones. It was that initial idea that set Bernstein and Wilson out on a mission to get into an accelerator program. They tried for most of the big programs but really wanted Techstars “primarily because of the mentorship”. Bernstein and Wilson are both techie software and hardware guys, and knew they needed help.

That was three years ago, and yes they got into Techstars. Back in August we brought you the story of how a brow beaten Wilson and Bernstein turned to startup community leader, mentor and investor Brad Feld. It was that meeting with Feld where they decided to create the Sphero ball.

I was first exposed to Sphero at the International CES in 2011. Wilson and Bernstein barely had a couple of prototypes but they were determined to show Sphero off to the world at an annual CES event called “Show Stoppers”. At that time I was still working on Thedroidguy and was amazed at how cool the Sphero ball was. Wilson and Bernstein were talking about freaking out cats and creating apps.  That was 3 CES’s ago.

At last years CES (2012), Wilson and Bernstein were back, they had a product, and they had started selling it. Talks turned to apps and games that you could play with Sphero. Sphero had also been the center of attention at the previous years Google IO conference. Sphero had a section of the official Google after party where amidst pulsating music party goers could control Sphero around an obstacle course of sorts.

2012 was the year they really broke through though. Sphero attracted one of it’s biggest fans in President of the United States Barack Obama.  Bernstein talks about that story in our video interview below.

Not only did they get the Presidential seal of approval on the Sphero ball, they had other big news just before the holidays. Back in October, it was announced that Sphero would be available in Target stores across the country.

It’s been a whirlwind three years for Orbotix and the Sphero ball. After covering the fun and cool factor of controlling a robotic ball with your smartphone, we got a chance to interview Bernstein on video about starting up. Check out the interview video below.

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Boulder Startup: Seamless Toys, Creates Atoms, Things To Build Things That Do Things, For Kids

ATOMS Express, Seamless Toy Company, Colorado startup,Boulder Startup, CESBoulder Colorado startup Seamless Toys, is one of the coolest startups we’ve heard about all year (and we’ve reported on over 1500), they’ve created Atoms, essentially toys that help kids build things that do cool things. Think erector sets, legos and blocks but for kids living in today’s times.

ATOMs were built to work in conjunction with the stuff kids already have like LEGOs, stuffed animals, Barbies, even those good ole erector sets. Seamless Toys boasts that within five minutes of taking ATOMS out of the box, kids can be creating things.  Not only that but kids as young as five can create toys that interact with smart phones, move around, explode and more.

There are 13 unique modules that include a motor, light sensor, sound module, knob module, battery brick, splitter, IR laser, IR target, LED, Flip Flop, accelerometer, iOS control brick and our favorite the exploding brick (parents no worries there are no pyrotechnics involved).

Last year at CES 2012 we saw Cubelets which are robotic construction kids for kids. While those are cool, what the folks at Seamless Toys have been able to do is integrate and make their ATOMS Express toy sets something that compliments existing toys and makes them do whatever a kids’ imagination can come up with.

Imagine creating a lego house with lights that turn on and off by iPhone, or a garage door that opens. Imagine a dinosaur that rolls across the floor and has a mouth that opens. You could even build lego villages that explode.

All of this is why ATOMS were able to meet their $100,000 Kickstarter goal in just 22 days.

We got a chance to catch up with the team behind ATOMS, check out our interview below.

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Techstars Now Taking Applications Via AngelList

Techstars,Angellist,startup acceleratorThe popular TechStars accelerator program announced last week on their blog that they are now taking applications via AngelList.

500 Startups was the first to go the route of using AngelList to allow startups to apply their program, with their current session. Traditionally to get into 500 startups accelerator program a startup had to be recommended internally. 500 Startups founder Dave McClure opened up the current session for general applications, but only using the AngelList platform.

TechStars is taking applications through their website and also through AngelList.

Techstars founder David Cohen does say that if you apply via AngelList and you’re selected for further evaluation you may need to answer some of the more specific questions found on the application on the Techstars website. However, applications are welcomed from either site.

Techstars is currently taking applications via AngelList and their website for their Boston program that starts February 25, 2013.   The early bird deadline for Boston applications is next Monday December 3rd and the final deadline is December 17th.

Applications are also open for the New York City 2013 cohort. The early bird application deadline is January 4, 2013 and the final deadline is January 18, 2013. That session begins April 2, 2013.

Linkage:

Techstars schedule

Techstars application via their website

Techstars application via Angellist

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New Coding School Startup In Colorado Offers Money Back Guarantee

Galvanize Denver,Galvanize.it,gschool,code academy,Denver startup,startup,startups,startup newsGalvanize, the Denver Colorado startup and coworking space in Denver’s Golden Triangle Neighborhood has a new tenant called gSchool. gSchool joins the onslaught of new coding schools that were brought on by institutions like Code Academy. Coding schools typically teach one thing, coding.

While IT schools are nothing new, in coding schools you’ll find the next generation of technical founders, hipster geeks and hoodie wearing future nerds. They’re a far cry from the pocket protector, briefcase students that roam the halls of ECPI.

gSchool is confident though. They plan on putting their students through a rigorous, fast paced program teaching skills like Ruby on Rails, for around $20,000 a clip. You may have just had a little accident when you read that but here’s the rub. gSchool has a money back guarantee. A good one.

After students complete the gSchool program they guarantee that you’ll get a job earning $60,000 or better or they will refund your $20,000 tuition. Think about that for a second. You’re spending $20,000 to make a guaranteed 300% return, much better odds than those betting on startups in the valley.

Galvanize is home to 27 startup businesses and now the gSchool. Jim Deters a tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Galvanize recruited Jump Start Labs and coding instructor Jim Casimir to teach at gSchool.

gSchool’s intense six month program is designed to graduate high caliber performers, not high caliber beginners, according to Deters.

“They want people who get the ethos and are imbued with the work ethic in startups today,” Deters said to the Denver Business Journal. “It’s fast-paced, and it’s creative.”

Galvanize is about growing talented startups and for that to succeed they need to increase the talent pool available in Denver. That’s the real goal behind gSchool.  Growing top tier programmers right in the building will give other building tenants access to the talent they need to succeed.

Deters is working on the second Galvanize a few miles north of the original location. It too will house startups, co-working space, gSchool classrooms and an eatery based on Deter’s first startup the ChoLon Bistro.

Linkage:

Galvanize is here

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Source: Denver Business Journal

Colorado Startup SeedLauncher Joins The Online/Offline Crowdfunding Space

Seedlauncher,Colorado startup,startup,startups,Denver startup,startup interview, founder interviewCrowdfunding could have very well been the most popular startup space in 2012. Crowdfunding startups came out of the woodwork for every industry and everybody. Even the porn industry got it’s own crowdfunding startup which we actually covered here.

One of the niche’s within crowdfuding that’s heating up right now is hybrid crowdfuding sites. These are the crowdfunding sites like SockStock and SeedVille, that fit in this hybrid space.

So what’s a hybrid crowdfuding site?

Crowdfunding sites that most people are familiar with function like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. These are sites where people can post whatever project they are working on and the crowd funds those projects. The project creators can be anywhere in the world because everything is done online.

In exchange for funding or a donation if you will, the entrepreneur getting their project or startup crowdfunded, gives the donator, or funder, some kind of perk. The more money that gets donated, the better the perk.

To us, a hybrid crowdfunding site is one that utilizes the internet for the funding but the business is local. Say you have a favorite ice cream shoppe around the corner from your home. The owner of the shoppe wants to expand but doesn’t have the money. He can go to a hybrid crowdfunding site and raise the money, and instead of sending perks in the mail, contributors can come to the local business and get their perk.

That’s exactly what Colorado startup SeedLauncher does. We got a chance to talk with SeedLauncher’s co-founder Jeromy Sonne about crowdfunding and the Colorado startup scene.

Check out the interview below.

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Boulder Startup Mobiplug Gets $2.7M Series A Putting Home Control In Your iPhone

mobiplug,boulder startup,colorado startup,Techstars,Foundry Group,Brad Feld, Home automationWhen a startup lands itself in the Boulder flagship Techstars program and then catches the eye of startup evangelist and venture capitalist Brad Feld it’s typically a recipe for greatness. Just check out how well Orbotix, the creators of the “Sphero Ball” have done since their time at Techstars.

Another recent Techstars Boulder graduate is following in the robotic balls footsteps by landing an impressive Series A round and a top level executive. Mobiplug, a company that brings home monitoring, control and automation to the palm of your hand via an iOS app, just landed the capital it needs to accelerate development. They also landed the leader they need to take the startup to the next level.

Feld’s Foundry Group led the $2.7 million dollar round. TechCrunch reports that Bullet Time Ventures, SK Ventures, Social Leverage, and Clarion Direct Investment, among others, participated in the round as well.

Mobiplug also announced that serial entrepreneur Tim Enwall, most recently CEO of Tendril, is now at the helm at Mobiplug.

Mobiplug consists of a small black box, that serves as a control hub, and an iOS app. Through the combination of the hub and the app, the user/home owner, can control everything from the lights, to the thermostat, electrical outlets, sprinklers and more. This can be done in the home or remotely, providing an extra element of security to the user’s home.

New CEO Enwall said in a statement:

“Getting wirelessly-enabled household items like locks, thermostats, lights, outlets and shades made by different manufacturers and based on different protocols to talk to each other is an enormous problem to solve, which is keeping this market from exploding. We’re fixing that.”

The Foundry Group’s Ryan McIntyre is joining Mobiplug’s board of directors. He also served as Mobiplug’s mentor during the Techstars program.

“I was really impressed by the co-founders and their ability to solve the thorny technical and interoperability problems that are currently holding back the home monitoring and control and Internet of Things (IoT) industry from mass adoption,” McIntyre said in a statement. “And when Tim Enwall decided to join Mobiplug, we felt confident that the addition of his experience and leadership to this already talented core team could really disrupt the market and lead this growing space.”

Linkage:

Source: TechCrunchDailyCamera

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Denver Startup Appit Ventures Wins $50,000 In Business Plan Competition

AppitVentures,Denver startup,Colorado startup,startup,startups,competitionsThere are a fair amount of quality startups out there who’s purpose is to help startups. Take nibletz.com for instance. As the “voice of startups everywhere else” we’re providing news coverage and traction to startups across the nation and around the world that they may not otherwise get.

Appit Ventures, a Denver startup, is another great startup that fits in that category. Appit Ventures helps entrepreneurs write business plans, grow their business and get access to funding.  They also build custom mobile applications through a revenue sharing model. They also provide strategic consulting and post launch strategies.

The startup won $50,000 in Denver’s first ever JumpStart Biz Plan Awards.  In addition to the cash AppIt Ventures also receives free office space for a year at Galvanize a new hub/incubator for startups. Professional legal services provided by Polsinelli Shughart and tax services from Deloitte were part of the prize package as well.

Appit Ventures will also receive 60 hours of strategic marketing services fromDovetail Solutions, social media consulting from WideFoc.us, and entrepreneurship mentoring from TiE Rockies.

“The quality of business plans presented in this inaugural program has been truly inspiring,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said in a statement. “Each of these entries further illustrates the strength and vitality of Denver’s small business climate. Our city has no shortage of promising entrepreneurial gems, and we are committed to helping our businesses grow and stay right here in our world-class city.”

Other JumpStart Biz Plan finalists were Big Mountain Robotics, Choozle, Fresh Takes Kitchen, Guerilla Gravity, Ibotta, One World Labs, Presm, The Uber Sausage and VertiFresh.

“Starting with over 150 companies and being selected to the top 10, we were honored,” said Jeff Macco co-founder of Appit Ventures. “Getting to the top three, we were humbled.”

Linkage:

Check out Appit Ventures here

Source: Denver Post

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Colorado Startup Employtown Says They’re Flip Flopping The Job Market

Employtown,Colorado startup,startup,startups,startup interview

Scott Balster co-founder of Employtown

Innovation in the job and recruitment space seems to be a weekly occurrence. The neat thing about jobs related startups is that every one of them knows that something different needs to happen.

Monster.com, the leader in jobs sites has become stale. It’s also become a breeding ground for recruiters, head hunters and agencies. It’s hard these days to sort through real ads verses cattle calls for talent pools.  Entrepreneurs are attacking this problem from all angles. Some are crowd-sourcing and using social media, some are putting job markets into silo’d verticals, while others are putting an entirely different spin.

Colorado startup Employtown is one of those startups that’s trying to do things totally different.

Husband and wife founders Scott and Andrea Balster have taken the job market and turned it around. Now instead of focusing on open slots, they are focusing on human capital. Employtown is about the people and not the job openings. Dare we say match.com for job seekers looking for employers?

In our interview with Scott he talks about how with their startup, those looking for jobs set up profiles, showcasing their style, creativity, skill sets, and resume items. The next thing they do is where Employtown separates themselves from other startups. Job applicants put what they’re looking for in terms of a job. They let employers know their criteria, are they looking for a 100% smoke free environment, are they looking for flexible hours, are they looking for a cafeteria and a weight room? Are they looking for more creativity in the work place? Whatever the applicant’s criteria for a new job is they can place it in their profile and employers can sift through profiles and find candidates that match.

Check out the rest of our interview with Scott below.

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