Blog
October 13, 2009
August 11, 2009
Class of 2009
Looxii (Look • See)
Founded by two graduates of Georgia Tech's MS in Digital Media program and based in Atlanta, GA, Looxii offers businesses a simpler social web. We develop apps that make it easier for you to track what’s relevant to your company on twitter, blogs and in the news. With the Looxii dashboard you can streamline your marketing reports and research, identify new advertising venues and strategies, and make happy customers. Go to Looxii.com - simply provide your company name and url - and we'll generate a custom report for you on the spot.
ShoutNow.com - Use Your Voice
Use ShoutNow.com to share the richness of your voice with Twitter, Facebook or your telephone contacts. You can share big family news, cancel soccer practice, tell a funny joke, or spotlight the new song you just recorded. Business users can complement or replace their low-click email or expensive direct mail campaigns for event reminders, special deals or announcements. We provide list management and detailed analytics so you know who heard and engaged with your shout. Leverage the power of voice and connect with the people you care about at ShoutNow.com.
OpenHatch
OpenHatch is an online network for open source geeks. The site provides community-targeted services such as a portfolio compiler and cross-project bug search engine. These features help software developers showcase and grow their experience in the free / open source software community. Once OpenHatch has released its public beta and reached a critical mass of users, the company will connect businesses with the code gurus who helped write the software they use to consult them on problems or recruit ideal job candidates. Since OpenHatch’s data on open source software developers’ experience and skills is publicly documented and verifiable, it provides a basis for trust where resumes fall short. You can sign up for OpenHatch’s private alpha at http://openhatch.org.
ZETA
Hundreds of millions of people are creating content online--blogs, articles, reviews, Tweets, and more. With so many people participating online, how do you identify an individual that's a quality source? Zeta solves this problem with one web page—The ZetaPage.The ZetaPage aggregates links to all of an individual Content Creator's online work and calculates the Content Creator’s Zeta Rating. For a potential audience member, the ZetaPage provides a consistent and reliable way to recognize a good source and read through all their content.For Content Creators, the ZetaPage communicates how well they’re performing and will also offer feedback to help them improve. To build your ZetaPage, go to ZetaPage.com.
Ninja Post - Killer message board software
Finally --- message board software designed for today's internet.The market for message boards is enormous, but existing solutions have not evolved --- until now. Ninja Post affords real time interaction; integration with social networks to help content go viral; and an elegant design that's easy to brand.Ninja Post makes your company's website a focal point for conversation. This improves your company's visibility in organic search results, driving customers to your website. Visit http://www.ninjapost.com to learn more.
Khush
Inc. develops intelligent music applications for mobile phones. Khush’s
first product is LaDiDa, a reverse karaoke iPhone application that
analyzes sung vocals and composes matching accompaniment. The target
demographic is iPhone users ages 14 – 30, both male and female. LaDiDa
has the potential to be a killer app, as it taps into the widespread
desire to sing and “be discovered”. LaDiDa includes sharing features
such as publishing to Facebook and Twitter, and also allows users to
listen to and rate other users’ recordings. For more information, visit
http://khu.sh.
The company was founded by music technology enthusiasts from the Georgia Tech Music Intelligence Lab.
EventHive is the next step in engaging conference presentations. By
leveraging attendee's laptops and cell phones, we move presentations
from a monologue to a dialogue and turn passive audiences into active
participants.
Speakers can connect with attendees and receive
real-time feedback during their presentation with EventHive polling.
Attendees can ask questions, post comments, and share information
directly from their seats. This improves the quality of Q&A by
allowing speakers to preview and choose the most relevant questions.
Beyond
interactive sessions, EventHive adds value to organizers with tools to
quantify attendee satisfaction, generate buzz, and help attendees
release news via their social networks.
To request an invitation to our private beta please visit http://EventHive.com.
Social Guides is a location-based conversation platform that makes it easy to find and discover places to go based on the experiences of the people you know. While traditional local search sites suffer from lack of personal relevance and stale reviews, SocialGuides leverages mobiles phones (iPhone and Android) and the social-web to provide a realtime, personalized, discovery experience. The average Internet consumer does not take the time to write long reviews at local search sites, or lengthy blog articles about their experiences - they simply tell their friends. SocialGuides makes that easy by taking status updates and matching it with places you go. Now, the location has personal context from the people your interested in: information about where you are right now, the restaurant you’re in, the hotel you’re staying at, the nightclub you’re having a great time in, or the next city you’re planning on visiting.
Check it out at http://www.socialguides.com.
July 11, 2009
Making the Pitch
Shotput Venture's summer program is halfway complete and teams are starting to think about launching on demo day in a few weeks. I sent out some tips to help the teams as they create their pitches and would like to share them here as well.
Some of the key aspects of a good pitch:
- Communicates WHAT you are building. This is THE most important part. You don't know how many pitches I've heard where I walk away asking what in the world they are doing. You do not need to explain everything you are doing - most products are far too nuanced to explain in 30 seconds. You simply need to explain the key aspect of what your product does in a way they will understand.
- Communicates WHY someone would use your product. You need to connect with your audience in a way that allows them to understand why your product is going to be a huge hit. Sometimes this can be tough if your audience isn't the target customer - but in some ways this can be an advantage because you get to define the problem and the solution.
- Communicates clearly, in simple conversational terms. You will be tempted to write your pitch before you read it. Don't do that. A pitch that looks great on paper will sound horrible when it is read. You should read your pitch before you write it down. A video camera helps. Just sit in front of it and explain your product 10 different ways, eventually you'll come across idioms and phrases that sound good.
One of the best ways to improve your pitch is to watch other pitches. It doesn't take long before you start to see the difference between good and bad pitches. For those that haven't seen it before, here's a great site where you can do just that: http://pitches.techcrunch.com
Watch a few dozen pitches and make notes about the ones you liked and didn't, and try to figure out why that is.
June 18, 2009
Demo Day - August 10th
Shotput Ventures is pleased to present the inaugural summer 2009 class of companies on August 10th, 2009 from 3PM to 6PM in the TSRB Auditorium (http://www.tsrb.gatech.edu/), located near the Georgia Tech campus at 85 Fifth St NW, Atlanta, GA, 30308. Hear each of the eight startup ventures give a five-minute pitch along with a demo of their software. Afterwards, spend time talking with the teams at the reception with light refreshments.
This is an invitation-only event for angel investors, venture capitalists, and technology executives and is co-sponsored by the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) (http://www.atdc.org). To request an invitation, please email info@shotputventures.com.
May 20, 2009
Shotput Teams are Official
We're excited to announce that the eight Shotput Ventures portfolio companies have been incorporated today. In addition, tonight marks the kick-off of the summer program where we have guest speakers every week. Some of the guest speakers confirmed for the summer include:
- Mike Seckler, Euclidean Technologs
- Said Mohammadioun, TechOperators
- Ben Dyer, Innovations Publishing
- Chris Klaus, Kaneva
- Genevieve Bos, Pink Magazine
- Greg Foster, Noro-Moseley Partners
- Coty Rosenblath, RevenueMed
- Stephen Flemming, VentureLab
- Bill Nussey, Silverpop
- Lance Weatherby, ATDC
- Mark Fleury, JBOSS
- Pat Mathews, Mailtrust
- Ed Trimble, SparkIP
April 15, 2009
Application Notification Emails
We wanted to say thank you to the tons of applicants! We received many more applications that we expected and are working through them right now. As for next steps, the Shotput partners are meeting tomorrow to vote on which teams will be selected for an interview. All teams will be notified by the end of the week (April 18th) if they are selected for an interview. Please look for an email from us.
March 23, 2009
Daring Greatly
The best entrepreneurs view themselves as forces for creative destruction, changing the world through sheer force of will. They are often motivated not by job security or traditional measures of prestige, but by the opportunity to swing for the fences. What keeps them going in the face of the huge odds against their "success?" How do they soldier on when times look tough?
Ask any entrepreneur who has "made it," and they will have a personal story about overcoming great obstacles through sheer determination. Like a dog that won't give up a bone.
In the Spring of 2001 the company I had cofounded was almost out of money; we were 2 weeks away from having to lay off our 20 employees, close our doors, and "get real jobs." To relieve the constant stress I would go to the Dunwoody High School track and run a few laps. At the track was a plaque inscribed with Teddy Roosevelt's "Man In The Arena" that helped me keep going:
It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
To all of you budding Shotput entrepreneurs out there: I hope that you will enter the arena, that you will know the great enthusiasms, and that you will Dare Greatly!
March 09, 2009
Emory Entrepreneurial Event
This event is open to everyone. To RSVP, please go to:
Spring 2009 Entrepreneurial Leadership Event
Connect and Share Ideas with Some of Atlanta’s Leading Entrepreneurs!
Thursday March 26th 6-8PM
Goizueta Business School, West Wing
Conference Room W525, 5th Floor
Light Refreshments Provided.
Co-Hosted by: Shotput Ventures
Co-Sponsors: Emory Alumni Association, Goizueta Business School, The Career Center
Join us for an evening to learn and network with fellow Emory Entrepreneurs and create connections to help you succeed in your entrepreneurial pursuits!
Event Topic:
Shotput Ventures Launches Entrepreneurial Program, Summer 2009
Shotput Ventures, a technology startup accelerator fund, will launch a three-month program this summer to give entrepreneurs a shot at converting passion into profit. Four of the fund’s partners will be sharing information about the fund along with their prior entrepreneurial experiences.
Shotput Ventures Moderator and Panelists:
Moderator:
Sanjay Parekh
Panelists:
David Cummings
Event Organizer:
March 04, 2009
Open House a Success
Our Shotput Ventures open house was a big success last night. We had over 150 people show up and network for a couple hours. Here are a couple good links:
We're excited about applications opening up on March 6th.
February 21, 2009
Dave Wright Introduction
Hi, I'm Dave Wright, Founder and President of Jungle Disk, but you can call me Jungle Dave.
When I moved to Atlanta a few years back to start Jungle Disk, more than one person thought I was crazy for leaving California. However in addition to the personal reasons I had for moving, I really felt that Atlanta had all the raw ingredients needed to build a great Internet business. It has been amazing to see how much the startup community here has grown and come together in just the past few years. Through blogs, twitter, and local events like Open Coffee and Startup Riot local entrepreneurs have more opportunity than ever to network, share and work together.
Since Jungle Disk was acquired last year I’ve been looking for opportunities to give back to the community and help other local startups. Shotput Ventures is one way that I plan to do that. While Jungle Disk is still a full time (plus) job, I'm excited to be able to offer some of my time and experience to help new teams get off the ground.
With my own success bootstrapping Jungle Disk, I know how far a great team with a small amount of capital can go in a short period of time with the right experience and resources available to them. The Shotput Ventures format makes a lot of sense to me. Most startups don't need lots of money or a huge staff. Both are simply a distraction at such an early stage. Instead they need to focus on building a great product while having all the resources they need at their fingertips. Starting a company from scratch is a fun, stressful, exciting, frightening, but ultimately very rewarding experience that I hope to share with all the teams this summer.
