Participating in your start-ups

Posted by lunaweb on January 26, 2011 1 Response »
Jan 262011

One of the joys we get out of organizing community events like BarCamp for Launch Memphis is enabling a whole lot of sharing and connecting. When we’re lucky, we become aware of some of the inspiration that occurs as a result. It’s a huge reward that can’t be taken to the bank.

In the two months since BarCamp Memphis 3, a new startup has evolved with a team of savvy, community minded, techies; they’ve named their business stiQRd (“stickered”). Since an initial inspiration at BarCamp, subsequent participation in TechCoffees, follow-ups on introductions, and raw determination, stiQRd is in a position to be rolling out their Beta version within the month. As if this weren’t already enough, the stiQRd team of five will also be heading into LaunchMemphis’ 48Hour Launch with solid and inspiring momentum.  (check out our Social Expedition podcast interview with stiQRd CEO, Aaron Prather)
stiQRd helps an organization/merchant build loyalty. It does this through enabling loyalty programs designed by the merchants themselves. stiQRd provides loyalty program management and transaction recording via smart phones. Essentially, instead of punching a hole in your frequent shopper card, participants scan a special sticker with their smartphones until some redeemable milestone is reached. Imagine the possibilities!

stiQRd is a Memphis startup company. It’s your Memphis startup too. We must embrace and support all the local startups we feel have potential because we all ultimately benefit. Startups, no matter how small, are a boost to the local economy. Seriously. We are coming into an era where Memphis, in all its funky diversity, is finally finding a way to tap into our own inspiration and ingenuity. We know you want to be a part and to help; Here’s how:

  • Support local startups by participating and supporting Launch Memphis activities
  • Learn about the startups that are afoot and support them as individuals and businesses
  • Give local startups an extra double-shot of consideration

Here’s what you do:

  1. Sign-up to be a beta tester at stiQRd.com
  2. Tell your retailer friends to email stiQRd for more info at social@stiqrd.com
  3. On Twitter, follow @stiqrd and @launchmemphis
  4. On Facebook, LIKE stiQRd and LaunchMemphis (& LunaWeb while there)
  5. Bring your awesome ingeniousness to 48Hour Launch and have an experience you’ll never forget.
  6. If you can’t make it to the entire event, show up at Emerge Memphis at 516 Tennessee St. on Sunday Jan30 at 6:00pm and for when the new startups present their businesses and cheer them on!
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Startup Weekend came and went as any good weekend does – entirely too fast. But rather than being the proverbial ‘lost weekend,’ Startup Weekend saw the creation of five startup companies looking to make their mark online and in the greater Memphis business community.

Memphis Startup Weekend by LunaWeb on Flickr

"Memphis Startup Weekend" by LunaWeb on Flickr

By the end of the event Sunday, Gamewav Media, MisterMenus, CheezyWeezy, Rezzie, and Roll Play all had their business plans in place, some with websites already up – one even had a great promo video.

Each startup is quite different from the next, which meant that each attendee was able to work on the project which most excited them.

A little bit more on each startup:

  • Gamewav Media is a portal for online games, centered around a zombie theme.
  • MisterMenus allows users to post reviews of local restaurants – at the individual dish level.
  • CheezyWeezy allows parents to post cute photos of their kids, while they and other parents rate the photos based on how much it makes them smile.
  • Rezzie is a real estate engine which aims to simplify the processes of home buying, home selling – even just finding a realtor to help you find a home.
  • Roll Play is a resource for online role playing and collaborative story telling.

Some of the teams may be closer to a full realization of their ideas, but it’s important to remember that Startup Weekend is not a competition. No one team struggled to beat another in any way, unless it was in a race for the beer, pizza, barbecue, Red Bull, or Kooky Canuck burgers.

The real point of Startup Weekend is seeing what happens when a group of creative people get excited about completing a project, and are given free rein (with a little bit of time) to make it come to fruition.

It was fantastic to see so many people feeding off of each other’s ideas and the immensely positive atmosphere at Emerge Memphis. Though the teams spread out through the building, it was clear that the members still came together and interacted, over food, beer, coffee or energy drinks.

That collaborative energy bubbled into the very startups being worked on. It’s clear that the projects would be difficult to complete without a dedicated team of people figuring out how best to get it off the ground – and how to have it start making some money.

It’ll be great to see these startups develop over the next few months – somewhere about three or four months down the line, there will be a reunion, gathering these teams back together to see what it is they’ve done, and how their new businesses have developed.

It’s not just the energy of Startup Weekend that’s positive – there’s the impact that these new businesses will have on the Memphis – and worldwide – communities we belong to. The sheer positivity that drives these projects has to be a sign of some unbelievably good things to come.

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May 292009

LaunchMemphis’ Startup Weekend begins tonight. For those of you who don’t know, Startup Weekend is all about gathering together a group of motivated individuals with great ideas to achieve something that none of them would be able to achieve alone – getting a fledgling business up and running in a single weekend.

LaunchMemphis Startup Weekend by LunaWeb on Flickr. View the full photoset.

"LaunchMemphis Startup Weekend" by LunaWeb on Flickr.

One of our favorite things about last year’s Startup Weekend was that many of the ideas pitched include major online social components – ways to let the audience participate. This, of course, suits our disposition towards social media (we founded Social Media Expedition out of love for the technology) – but it speaks more broadly to the importance of participation in today’s tech and economic environments.

It’s becoming obvious that no single one of us can achieve greatness on his or her own. We live in a world that requires us to work together – and in a world that makes that easier than ever.

It’s no surprise that such a large proportion of ideas presented at last year’s Startup Weekend shared that social element, but it is very reassuring to know that people understand the importance of each other. We hope that the trend continues this year.

Startup Weekend’s challenge – and fun – centers around the deadline. The participants will have 72 hours to volunteer their energies to ideas chosen by other participants to work on. By Sunday night, at least one new business will be up and running.

For more information about (and to register for) Startup Weekend, visit LaunchMemphis and the Startup Weekend blog. We’ll be there to cover the event. To see some nice shots from this year’s pre-event mixer, check out our Flickr set from that evening.

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Jan 212009

Launch MemphisAside from being a lot of fun, it turns out LaunchMemphis’ 2008 inaugural season was a huge financial success.  LaunchMemphis kicked off in May 2008 with a well-attended Tech Fuel event.  Things have only gone up since then, with several events having been hosted already, and many more on the horizon.

The best news, however, comes from a recently published LaunchMemphis financial report for 2008.  The program, since its inception, has taken $16k in investment capital and produced nearly $500k in economic impact, all right here in Memphis.

This success is attributed to a host of factors.  Among them is a very dedicated group of founders dedicated to the growth of Memphis’ entrepreneurial community. Eric Mathews, Dave Barger, Harry Brown, Sridhar Sunkara, Chris Allen, Anna Ivey, Gwin Scott, Douglas Scarboro, Marc Diaz, and Lori Turner have all dedicated immense time and effort into seeing this program accomplish all that it has.

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LaunchMemphis also owes a great deal of success to its sponsorship base which has consistently provided funding and resources that have helped maximize the programs potential.  FedEx Institute of Technology, Bosco’s Brewing Company, Memphis Regional Chamber, Center City Commission, Sun Microsystems, JumpBox, Cadre5, Flying Circle, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, & Berkowitz, Naked Lion Brewing Company, Starbucks Coffee, Domino’s Pizza, Neely’s Bar-B-Que, Innova, Mercury Technology Labs, Impact Memphis, Red Bull, Open Road Technologies, Small Business Chamber, Red Bull, LunaWeb, and Rendezvous BBQ, all played a crucial role in events over the past year.

Visit the 2009 schedule for upcoming LaunchMemphis events and links to more information.

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blogpost by lunaweb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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