2010 July | DiscoveringStartups -Tech Startup Reviews

YouTern.com – Connects Emerging Talent With Start-Ups Through Internships

Posted by admin On July - 30 - 2010

		Company	YouTern
			http://www.youtern.com
		Founded:	April 2008
		City:	Carson City, Nevada
		Country:	United States
		CEO:	Mark Babbitt
		Founders:	Mark Babbitt
Category:	Digital Content (Blogs, Websites)	Funding:	Self-Funded
Tags:	internships, start-up, startups, entrepreneur	Employees:	2-5

What does YouTern do?

Through internships, YouTern connects emerging talent with dynamic start-ups and entrepreneurial driven small- to medium-sized businesses. While assisting young companies extend their bandwidth, resources and experience set we offer Gen Y talent an avenue to immediately create and contribute in a small-team environment.

How are they different?

Using our Web 2.0 interface and matching technologies YouTern assists students, graduates and career-changers find the perfect intern opportunity. We quickly collect parallel data from both the candidate and the employer, compare the goals and requirements of both, and notify them when we’ve found a great match (think e-Harmony.com for intern candidates and start-ups!)

Why could YouTern be BIG?

In our new economy, an internship — perhaps several internships — is nearly a mandatory component of career development for young adults entering the workforce. In fact, 90% of direct-from-college hires will go to those with internship experience on their resumes. YouTern provides students with an online community that enables them to find an intern position at a young, dynamic company — rather than the traditional “coffee and copies” internship at a large corporation.

How they plan to make money:

After our concept is proven and significant traction gained, YouTern will monetize through a monthly subscription model through employers.

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://www.youtern.com

2-5, Digital Content, Self-Funded

Socurio.com – A New Way To Buy And Sell Art

Posted by admin On July - 30 - 2010

		Company	Socurio
			http://socurio.com
		Founded:	03/01/2010
		City:	Los Angeles, California
		Country:	United States
		CEO:	Sasha Koehn
		Founders:	Sasha Koehn, Ion Skillrud
Category:	Web Apps/Tools/Widgets	Funding:	Seed/Friends & Family
Tags:	art, marketplace, artist, community, socurio, socurio.com,	Employees:	2-5

What does Socurio do?

Socurio is a marketplace and creative community for art and is focused on facilitating interaction between artists and consumers. By providing a simple, fun, and easy to use interface for exploring new art and artists, Socurio strives to educate and expose the traditional art community and those with little art exposure to a vast array of affordable original artistic solutions. Socurio was founded on the mission that “art is for everyone” and it is our goal to continue building our platform to connect artists with buyers in an effort to make a living without giving up their artistic vision.

How are they different?

While there are 100’s of artist community and registry websites, they are completely artist driven and simply allow artists to display their work. Socurio puts the focus on integrating the consumer in the community. Socurio is not another website to post your art and receive “likes” and compliments, it is a platform for artists serious about their art, who are looking for a venue to sell their work in a beautiful, clean, and community curated environment.

Why could Socurio be BIG?

Artists lack the time or resources needed to promote/market their work to consumers. Consumers are often intimidated by the idea of art, don’t know what they like, and opt instead for a mass produced easily accessible alternative. Socurio makes art more accessible to the world by connecting consumers with artists. Within seconds an artist can have an entire collection showcased to a unique targeted consumers. Because Socurio consistently maintains a diverse inventory in both price and style (Socurio supports many mediums of expression) consumers will continue using the marketplace for gifts, home furnishing and even financial investment!

How they plan to make money:

Socurio’s business model is driven by the marketplace which includes a .35 cent posting fee for an artist to sell an item for a 4 month period and a 5% transaction fee when the item is sold.

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://socurio.com

2-5, Seed/Friends & Family, Web Apps/Tools/Widgets

BidNerd.com – Bidding Site For Services

Posted by admin On July - 30 - 2010

		Company	BidNerd LLC
			http://www.bidnerd.com
		Founded:	2008
		City:	Kissimmee, Florida
		Country:	United States
		CEO:	Cory Sneed
		Founders:	Blake Freeman, Cory Sneed
Category:	Other	Funding:	Self-Funded
Tags:	bidding, renovations, commercial projects, residential projects, home improvement, commercial bids, carpentry, architecture, hvac, plumbing, electrical, painting, construction, roofing, asphalt, flooring, contractor, general contractor, subcontractor, government projects, government leads, procurement, lawn care, cleaning, rentals	Employees:	6-15

What does BidNerd LLC do?

BidNerd is the online bidding marketplace for projects – think eBay for services. It’s a place for people to post projects they need done, and for service providers to find and bid on work. BidNerd saves money, time and hassle for members. Post your project any time, from anywhere, and service providers are notified to bid on the work. We’ve developed a patented online Blind Bidding Room where project-listers can see the bids and service provider profiles. Service providers can adjust their bids to compete for the business and win the project.

BidNerd is the new way consumers (or business or government) and service providers interact with each other. It’s free to join, easy to use and it helps people find work and get work done.

How are they different?

BidNerd helps everyone and is truly first-of-its-kind. The patented Blind Bidding Room with “Lower My Bid” button is unique to BidNerd. Bidders always know where they stand in a fluid bidding process that enables instant bidding with the ability to adjust bids to stay in contention for the job. Project listers (consumers, business, government) save time and money, without having to search for service providers or haggle for price – the process does it for you.

The site is driven by its community of members – a service-providing social network with limitless possibilities. Project listers can post video, photos, plans and descriptions; schedule pre-bid meetings and more. Bidders receive free notifications of projects meeting their criteria and pay a small fee only when bidding on work, for a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising. Auction your project to the lowest bidder providing the best value, quality, whatever you are looking for. BidNerd.com is easy, friendly and efficient and free to join.

Why could BidNerd LLC be BIG?

BidNerd is BIG because it is for ANYONE, a game-changer and a massive way for people to save a lot of money – from homeowners to businesses to government. BidNerd also helps service providers find work. BidNerd is available nationwide and in Canada for anyone to find service-based work and get work done. Projects posted on BidNerd range from home remodeling and renovation to landscaping, party rentals, cleaning services, large-scale commercial construction projects, property management, general contractor, restaurant and government-procurement projects. The possibilities are limitless.

How they plan to make money:

Membership is free, but service providers pay a low fee for each project they choose to bid on. For $7.95 per project, service providers receive full access to the Blind Bidding Room, which enables the ability to view all bids placed within the project, change the bid (only displays lowest bid), submit proposals, messages, questions, video, photos and blueprints – and keeps them in contention for as long as they choose. Bids are viewable to other bidders, but company information is kept private, only viewable by the project lister. The bidding fee is a fraction of traditional advertising costs.

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://www.bidnerd.com

6-15, Other, Self-Funded

AuditMyBooks.com – Automatic Error And Fraud Detection For Small Businesses

Posted by admin On July - 30 - 2010

		Company	AuditMyBooks
			http://auditmybooks.com
		Founded:	2009
		City:	Atlanta, Georgia
		Country:	United States
		CEO:	Steve Bachman
		Founders:	Steve Bachman, CP Morey, Frank Torre, Greg Edelin
Category:	Web Apps/Tools/Widgets	Funding:	Seed/Friends & Family
Tags:		Employees:	6-15

What does AuditMyBooks do?

AuditMyBooks is a B2B SaaS solution that automatically analyzes small & medium business accounting records to detect errors & fraud.

How are they different?

AuditMyBooks uses advanced forensic techniques including statistical analysis, user defined thresholds and detection signatures to identify errors and fraud. The proprietary algorithms are created by AuditMyBooks with input from the Forensic Advisory Board. The algorithms leverage 1,000s of hours of experience with accounting systems, business intelligence, financial auditing and information security.

AuditMyBooks is working with the National Science Foundation to advance the use of predictive analysis to reduce accounting errors and financial fraud. This research is also proprietary and will extend the intellectual property of the company.

Why could AuditMyBooks be BIG?

AuditMyBooks is targeted at the nearly 23M businesses in the U.S. with less than 100 employees. These companies routinely receive accounting services like financial compilations or tax preparation, it is rare for them to receive audits due to their cost and complexity. Because no cost effective or easy to use alternatives designed for SMBs have existed in the past, errors and fraud continue to levy a high cost against small businesses.

How they plan to make money:

The 1st version of AuditMyBooks is available in the Intuit App Center & provides direct access to the more then 4M QuickBooks users, 275K accounting professionals & 45K ProAdvisors.

The initial go to market plan will focus on the accountants & ProAdvisors, who are “trusted advisors”. AuditMyBooks is a business development tool for them to deliver additional billable services like internal control reviews and forensic audits.

AuditMyBooks is priced at $19.95 per month or $195 for a prepaid annual subscription per module per company. Thus, a ProAdvisor with 5 clients using QuickBooks will require 5 subscriptions.

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://auditmybooks.com

6-15, Seed/Friends & Family, Web Apps/Tools/Widgets

BeyondTheRack.com – Premier Members-Only Shopping Club.

Posted by admin On July - 29 - 2010

		Company	Beyond the Rack
			http://www.beyondtherack.com
		Founded:	02/01/2009
		City:	Montreal, Non-US
		Country:	Canada
		CEO:	Yona Shtern
		Founders:	Yona Shtern and Robert Gold
Category:	eCommerce	Funding:	Angel
Tags:	Private online shopping club	Employees:	Over 100

What does Beyond the Rack do?

Beyond the Rack offers consumers across North America the most sought after designer apparel, accessories, beauty, and home decor at up to 70% off retail prices in the context of limited-time sale events that typically last 48 hours.

How are they different?

While many other online shopping clubs target narrower market niches, Beyond the Rack has distinguished itself by aiming at a broader demographic with a diverse selection of merchandise that includes men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, children’s clothing and toys, beauty, housewares, and home décor.

Why could Beyond the Rack be BIG?

Every consumer is looking for designer items at discounted prices (in other words, a taste for luxury for less). And Beyond the Rack offers just that!

How they plan to make money:

By continuing to provide an exciting shopping experience to our members and continuing to increase our top line sales at a rate of over 30% each month.

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://www.beyondtherack.com

Angel, Over 100, eCommerce

InfluenceFinder.com – Flexible And Advanced Backlink Profiling Software

Posted by admin On July - 29 - 2010

		Company	InfluenceFinder
			http://www.influencefinder.com
		Founded:	2010
		City:	London, Non-US
		Country:	United Kingdom
		CEO:	John Straw
		Founders:	John Straw
Category:	Search	Funding:	VC
Tags:	SEO, webmap	Employees:	6-15

What does InfluenceFinder do?

We help websites climb to the top of Google search listings by identifying the influential and relevant sites you need to get links from.

How are they different?

The best sources of linking data including Google simply don’t deliver the same level of detail. Our software means you can identify the sites you need to link to within hours

Why could InfluenceFinder be BIG?

Because there are 70 million websites in the world that need the sort of traffic a search engine could give them but the specialist knowledge of how to gain the knowledge to do so is in the hands of a very select few.

Influencefinder aims to put that knowledge into the hands of everyone for as little as $99 per month

How they plan to make money:

InfluenceFinder is VC funded. We make our revenues from monthly subscriptions from $99 a month

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://www.influencefinder.com

6-15, Search, VC

CostRefuge.com – Editorially Aggregated Personal Finance And Money News for Consumers

Posted by admin On July - 29 - 2010

		Company	CostRefuge, LLC.
			http://www.costrefuge.com
		Founded:	Dec. 2009
		City:	New York, New York
		Country:	United States
		CEO:	Blair MacGregor
		Founders:	Blair MacGregor
Category:	Digital Content (Blogs, Websites)	Funding:	Bootstrapping
Tags:	money & culture, personal finance, consumers, consumer web	Employees:	1

What does CostRefuge, LLC. do?

CostRefuge is an editorial aggregator and curator of personal finance related news & information structured like Newser, TechMeme, Real Clear Markets & other news aggregators. Stories are manually curated to cover not just standard personal finance stories, but a wide spectrum of topics affecting your money & consumer culture at large, including economic/consumer issues, real estate, tech, travel & more from both mainstream sources & the blogosphere. Think of it as the money section of your local newspaper, produced for the web on one, digestible, easy-to-read, page.

How are they different?

With the sheer abundance of financial content today, there’s been no effort until now to curate the best pieces from the mainstream news and the blogosphere from the redundant. And while there are a number of sites out there that cater to professional investors & day traders, none of these appeal to the average consumer & investor; what stories affect their money and financial well-being in today’s economy.

CostRefuge also differs from other aggregators doing similar things in the space by ensuring that the majority of content is compiled manually as opposed to simply an automated list generated by either RSS or an algorithmic model.

Why could CostRefuge, LLC. be BIG?

The interest in personal finance & money related topics only continues to grow, especially in light of the global recession where consumers are looking to stretch their dollar further than ever before. We see the site becoming the source for this type of content, particularly amongst Gen Y’ers who are web savvy and don’t particular gravitate to the more traditional media outlets for this kind of information.

Once the site is out of beta, the plan is to segue into more of a hybrid model of aggregation and original content to look more along the lines of The Huffington Post & other major web-based publishers.

How they plan to make money:

Mostly via advertising, however we plan to explore premium content & other monetization options as well once we move out of beta and begin rolling out desired features to make content more accessible and to encourage community building.

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://www.costrefuge.com

1, Bootstrapping, Digital Content

Pontiflex.com – Specializing In Transparent, Sign-Up Advertising Technology.

Posted by admin On July - 29 - 2010

		Company	Pontiflex Inc.
			http://pontiflex.com
		Founded:	April 2008
		City:	Brooklyn, New York
		Country:	United States
		CEO:	Zephrin Lasker
		Founders:	Zephrin Lasker,
Category:	Data/Analytics	Funding:	VC
Tags:	sign up ads, permission-based advertising, email marketing, transparency	Employees:	16-30

What does Pontiflex Inc. do?

Pontiflex’s technology makes advertising relevant by connecting people to the brands that matter to them.

Pontiflex lets consumers sign up for ads on Web sites, social media apps and blogs and get deals and information from brands and organizations that they like. Advertisers only pay for the leads – the actual data from consumers that have signed up to hear from them.

How are they different?

Key Differentiators:
Integrity: From the quality of the data to the interaction with consumers it allows its customers to have, Pontiflex brings integrity to the world of online advertising.
100% opt-in
You have the control, the choice
Transparency
Privacy
Security
Respect
Scalable, opt-in/clean data
Publisher quality

Relevance: The right information, on the right sites, for the right consumers. Pontiflex’s data is guaranteed to be relevant to the marketer’s objectives and long-term success.

Connection between the brand and “like organic” consumers
Mutually beneficial
Long-term relationships and connections
Data exclusive to brand

Leadership: A proven partner working with some of the world’s most respected companies, Pontiflex brings innovative technologies together with a deep knowledge of the digital advertising and media worlds.
Experience: This is what we were born to do
Knowledge of emerging media
A resource guide, a teacher
Stable, viable

Why could Pontiflex Inc. be BIG?

So many of us use Pontiflex in our lives without even realizing it:

By signing up to receive information via online ads, people get what they want from the advertisers or non-profit organizations. This combination of permission-based data collection and data-management technologies coupled with industry-specific marketing leadership enables Pontiflex to build a mutually beneficial bond between the marketer and their target audiences, providing new revenue opportunities and creating a better overall brand experience.

How they plan to make money:

By aiming to capitalize on our differentiators in the cost-per-lead marketplace, to be a leader and authority in relevant, permission-based data collection for our clients.

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://pontiflex.com

16-30, Data/Analytics, VC

ThirdEco.com – Promoting Products For Peace And Purpose

Posted by admin On July - 28 - 2010

		Company	ThirdEco
			http://www.thirdeco.com
		Founded:	July 1, 2010
		City:	Miami, Florida
		Country:	United States
		CEO:	Lisa Hernandez
		Founders:	Lisa Hernandez
Category:	eCommerce	Funding:	Self-Funded
Tags:	green living, organic, eco-friendly	Employees:	1

What does ThirdEco do?

Promote and sell eco products from companies that have a charity base or a unique vision. I love discovering them and want them to succeed so collectively we can preserve the earth and bring positivity globally.

How are they different?

I am passionate about bringing eco-friendliness to mainstream, and at the same time promoting a world vision of peace. I want to stir up goodness in people and bring to light a responsibility in the products they buy. At the same time, they’re impacting the world positively – With the green products they buy and the charities they’re helping to fund.

Why could ThirdEco be BIG?

More and more consumers are becoming green and realizing the power they have in the products they purchase. There is a great need to make green living more affordable and mainstream.

How they plan to make money:

Simply with the sale of the products I promote

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://www.thirdeco.com

1, Self-Funded, eCommerce

PosterBurner.com – Custom Poster Printing

Posted by admin On July - 28 - 2010

		Company	PosterBurner
			http://www.PosterBurner.com
		Founded:	05/01/2009
		City:	Chesapeake, Virginia
		Country:	United States
		CEO:	Rick Stephenson
		Founders:	Rick Stephenson, Matt Stephenson
Category:	Media (Photo/Video/Music)	Funding:	Bootstrapping
Tags:	Custom Posters, Poster Printing	Employees:	2-5

What does PosterBurner do?

PosterBurner allows users to upload pictures and have them printed as custom posters.

How are they different?

PosterBurner uses the highest quality materials to create posters and ships them anywhere in the world within 24 hours.

Why could PosterBurner be BIG?

Every house has at least one poster, canvas, or large framed print hanging somewhere.

How they plan to make money:

Our revenues have grown 25% each month in 2010.

Our thoughts:

No thoughts at the moment. Very interesting!

Please visit their website to learn more: http://www.PosterBurner.com

2-5, Bootstrapping, Media (Video/Photo/Music)

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Archive for July, 2010

YouTern.com – Connects Emerging Talent With Start-Ups Through Internships

Socurio.com – A New Way To Buy And Sell Art

BidNerd.com – Bidding Site For Services

AuditMyBooks.com – Automatic Error And Fraud Detection For Small Businesses

BeyondTheRack.com – Premier Members-Only Shopping Club.

InfluenceFinder.com – Flexible And Advanced Backlink Profiling Software

CostRefuge.com – Editorially Aggregated Personal Finance And Money News for Consumers

Pontiflex.com – Specializing In Transparent, Sign-Up Advertising Technology.

ThirdEco.com – Promoting Products For Peace And Purpose

PosterBurner.com – Custom Poster Printing

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