This week, Slice of Silicon Hills News Host Andrew Moore interviews Grapevine’s Co-Founder Erik Larson about the company’s latest version of its software.
Grapevine, based at Geekdom, makes a reputation management software program aimed at businesses in the hospitality industry like restaurants and hotels.
Tag: San Antonio (Page 10 of 17)
Kirpeep’s Leticia Barrientos, vice president of outreach, talks with Slice of Silicon Hills Host Andrew Moore about the startup’s plans for South by Southwest this weekend.
The company, based at Geekdom, is having a swag challenge at SXSW. More than 5,000 people signed up for the challenge, which quickly sold out, Barrientos said. They have established a waitlist. To find out more, the startup will based at Free Lunch Friday’s Rig at SXSW at 604 East 7th Street in Austin.
Kirpeep is an online marketplace that allows people to exchange, buy or sell goods and services. For more on the company, please read this profile on the company.
Disclosure: Kirpeep is an advertiser with Silicon Hills News. And Geekdom is a sponsor.
This week on Slice of Silicon Hills News, host Andrew Moore interviews Vid Luther, founder of ZippyKid, a WordPress hosting site.
The startup, founded in 2010, is based at Geekdom, a sponsor of Silicon Hills News.
Moore interviews Luther at the Silver Fox Studios, which is also a sponsor of Silicon Hills News, on the 10th floor of Geekdom in downtown San Antonio.
This week, Andrew Moore talks with Frederick “Suizo” Mendler, co-founder of TrueAbility.
The San Antonio-based startup, founded by four former Rackspace employees, known as Rackers, has created an online testing and assessment system for technical job candidates. The TrueAbility test gives recruiters and employers an accurate view of a job candidate’s technical skills.
TrueAbility, which recently raised $750,000, is also part of the TechStars Cloud program taking place at Geekdom in downtown San Antonio. And it’s one of the finalists in the South by Southwest Accelerator program.
Silicon Hills News Reporter Andrew Moore interviews Wimbo Music’s Chief Technical Officer Greg Cerveny in the first episode of Slice of Silicon Hills. The show is recorded and produced at the Silver Fox Studios at Geekdom in downtown San Antonio.
If you’re interested in being on a future show, please send us an e-mail. The goal of the show is to shine a spotlight on Austin and San Antonio technology companies and entrepreneurs and those visiting the area to participate in local incubators.
Nick Longo, director of Geekdom, provides this insight into Geekdom, a year-old collaborative coworking space in downtown San Antonio. It is Texas’ largest co-working site. Geekdom, which is a sponsor of Silicon Hills News, has expanded from the 11th floor to the 10th floor. It’s home to the TechStars Cloud.
Geekdom 2.2 video from The IMG Studio on Vimeo.
BY RANDY LANKFORD
Reporter with Silicon Hills News
Janie Gonzalez, founder of Webhead
“There’s an unfortunate belief that certain minorities should stick to mundane jobs they’re stereotyped for,” Gonzalez says. There are also those who don’t believe women are suited to leadership positions in high-tech companies. Gonzalez busts both those myths.
“My personal and business journey as a Latina CEO has been a trying experience with many ups and downs.”
A San Antonio native and UTSA graduate, Gonzalez founded Webhead as a website hosting company in 1994 while still in college. It has since expanded to include cyber-security support, e-commerce system design and a number of digital analysis and advisory services.
“I envisioned the potential the Internet would bring to all areas of business as well as the social impact, especially through the demand for website design and development.
“Our clients look to us for the latest, most cost-effective, online business technology solutions and techniques. We take pride in being pioneers in the Internet world and making a mark on the cyber frontier. Our efforts range from helping our nation with cyber defense to assisting clients with emerging online needs.”
Operating in what Gonzalez describes as a state of “constant innovation,” Webhead has grown considerably in its 18 years of operation. The company will move into its own newly purchased building in 2013 after starting with $500 cash and a $2,500 line of credit at Circuit City.
“No venture capital investment,” says Gonzalez of the company’s organic growth. “One client, sweat equity and many odds against it. We survived three major financial downturns including the burst of the Internet bubble.”
The purchase of Webhead’s own building is, according to Gonzalez, her third career milestone.
“The first was landing my first big account for $3.5 million. It only took 12 years into my career. The second was moving from micro lending to a conventional bank and establishing solid banking relations with a sizable line of credit.”
Gonzalez is using her success to support the community as well through Webhead’s “Get Involved” program focusing on volunteerism, donations, sharing and spotlighting. Webhead employees participating in the program are encouraged to donate at least 20 hours per year to community service focused on medical research, education, military and mentoring.
“I come from humble beginnings and would not be as successful without the support my family and I received growing up. We have a social responsibility to help those less fortunate and contribute to the common good to improve the communities we work, play and live in.”
The drive and desire to make a difference was inspired by Gonzalez’s parents.
“As the oldest of five siblings, it was agonizing to see my parents struggle financially. Growing up, I watched my father labor in his trade as a mechanic to make ends meet. He had no formal education or training and spoke limited English. Despite his situation, he worked tirelessly to see that his family did not lack the basic necessities. I watched and learned. Tired, injured, frustrated he never missed work and still doesn’t. I admire my dad’s character of strength, teamwork, professional appearance and his attitude.
“My mother dedicated herself to her children and husband. She invested in her children’s education, spirituality and community development. She spent every ounce of energy on her children. She was a school volunteer, coordinated talent shows and made sure we participated in extracurricular activities: the Girls Scouts, basketball, track, baseball/softball, dance lessons. She was a domestic entrepreneur. We sold raspas, crafts, and items at the flea market. She did all of those things to pay for all the extracurricular activities. Again, I watched and learned; fatigued yet always with a smile and spirit of giving, not expecting anything back from anyone including her children. I admire my mother’s big heart, her faith, and desire to give to others.”
As for her business success, Gonzalez quotes entertainer Bill Cosby. “In order to succeed, your desire for success must be greater than your fear of failure.”
Webhead is certified as a contractor to the U.S. Government under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) business development program, as both a woman-owned and a minority-owned small business. The company is certified with both the SBA’s HUBZone neighborhood development project and the equivalent Texas state program.
“The Webhead team did an excellent job of taking our ideas and turning them into a reality,” explains Kathy DeWaal, chairman of NIOSA, in describing Webhead’s Content Management System implementation and web development, custom design, information architecture, mobile site development and maintenance, and Quick Response or QR Code design and development.
“They were very easy to work with, informative, and always accommodated our questions and concerns. They gave us a wonderful new look and made sure we were aware of the steps being taken throughout the design process.”
Gonzalez, who grew up on San Antonio’s south side, chose the location of the company’s headquarters carefully.“Webhead’s office has and will continue to be in the inner city. Economic development cannot take place without employers who provide high-wage occupations. I’ve made a point of giving back to my community by fostering economic development in the inner city.”
Jon Dobbertin. co-founder of Call Grader
By L.A. LOREK, Founder of Silicon Hills News
At InnoTech San Antonio’s beta summit earlier this year, CallGrader won the competition.
The group of four close-knit friends created a software as a service customer application program for companies in the heating and cooling industry. They worked out of Geekdom on their venture.
A few months later, CallGrader applied and got selected to participate in the incubator program DreamIt Ventures, based in Philadelphia.
In September, Jon Dobbertin, Dan Garcia, Ben Niemietz and Chip Mobley all packed up and flew to Philadelphia. They rented two one-bedroom apartments close by the accelerator. Their wives, all four are expecting babies within four months of each other with the first due date set for Dec. 1, stayed in San Antonio.
“It’s been a little crazy,” Dobbertin said. He was in town last weekend and stopped by Geekdom for the 3 Day Startup San Antonio pitches on Sunday night. “We’ve been flying back and forth. But it’s been a phenomenal experience.”
The program has allowed Call Grader to expend its network, Dobbertin said. Every week, they meet with business people and listen to seminars from entrepreneurs who have been there and done that.
Dobbertin especially liked talks with Duck, Duck Go Founder Gabriel Weinberg and David Rose, founder of Gust.
CallGrader had a beta product in the marketplace when it entered the program, but now the company has launched and its revenues are projected to exceed what the team originally forecast by the end of the year, Dobbertin said. He declined to provide specifics.
“We’ve had a really successful launch out of Beta,” he said.
CallGrader has also pivoted into a cloud-based platform for providing businesses a way to efficiently communicate with customers. It has also built a rich database that allows companies to get all kinds of information on their customers including social media profiles to better tailor their service, Dobbertin said. And next year, it’s rolling out a chat platform, he said.
The DreamIt program has been hectic but it has pushed the team members to do more work in a short period of time than they would have gotten done on their own, Dobbertin said.
“We’re working around the clock, seven days a week and putting in 14 hour days,” he said. “In that three months we were able to do 12 months worth of work.”
CallGrader receied $25,000 in cash and $75,000 worth of credits for free hosting from Rackspace, Amazon and Azure. It has also received another $20,000 worth of legal and accounting services, Dobbertin said. But the most valuable part of the experience has been the mentorship and network the team received, he said.
To get to the next level, CallGrader plans to raise a seed round of investment, Dobbertin said. The company would like to raise its money in San Antonio so they can stay here. But they have already applied to the Benjamin Franklin Technology Fund, which would require Call Grader to be based in Philadelphia, Dobbertin said.
“We hope to find our funding here so we don’t have to move everyone to the East Coast,” he said.
Call Grader shows what’s possible for startup companies in San Antonio, said Alan Weinkrantz, a public relations expert who knows the team.
“It’s nice to see a company start and incubate here and go on to get accepted to a top tier incubator and relocate to Philadelphia.”
DreamIt Ventures recently expanded its program to Austin. It is based at Capital Factory. DreamIt Ventures just selected its first class of companies. They will have their demo day at SXSW 2013.
Jason Seats, managing director of TechStars Cloud, leads the TechStars for a Day program at Geekdom.
“We help awesome founders build great companies,” said Jason Seats, managing director of the TechStars Cloud.
The program has become a launching pad for technology startups with five TechStars programs around the country in Boulder, Boston, Seattle, New York and San Antonio. TechStars Cloud focuses on companies that build infrastructure products for the Internet as well as consumer applications accessible on the Web.
“Deep down there is some altruism,” Seats said. “We like to build stuff that matters. It’s not about making the most money.”
But the TechStars companies collectively have raised $265 million and 185 companies with 1,200 employees.
Last year’s TechStars Cloud class raised $15 million including $2.5 million from local investors in a fund headed up by John Mosher.
The TechStars Cloud is a three-month technology incubator that takes place every January at Geekdom, a co-working and collaborative space at the Weston Centre in downtown San Antonio. The first TechStars Cloud took place last January and featured 11 teams that came from all over the country. This year’s program kicks off on Jan. 14 and will be housed on the newly renovated 10th floor of the Weston Centre. The deadline to apply is Sunday at midnight.
The application process is highly competitive, Seats said.
Each team receives $18,000 in cash and $100,000 in debt financing. In exchange, TechStars takes a 6 percent stake in the company.
For that investment, the companies get mentorship from successful entrepreneurs, investment, access to a vast network of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other resources, and perks valued at $200,000, Seats said.
During the three-month program, the teams overhaul business models and craft products while they fine-tune their company story and pitch.
Ryan Shank and Vincent Wong, co-founders of
Ryan Shank and Vincent Wong, co-founders of MHelpDesk
“We’re interested in the mentorship and network aspects of the program,” Wong said.
“We’re looking for mentors to take the company to the next level – to take the company to the masses,” Shank said.
Dustin Larimer, co-founder of a team chat application, applied for the program. He volunteered as a TechStars HackStar for the last class and he’s seen the benefit the teams receive from the program firsthand.
“I got to see the transformation in them,” Larimer said. “The quality that comes out of that crystalizes a line of clarity that you couldn’t find on your own.”
Throughout the day, the applicants listened to a series of speakers that talked about their mistakes, how to raise money and how to run their businesses effectively.
Dirk Elmendorf, co-founder of Rackspace and Trucking Office
“We all think we’re great at marketing,” Elmendorf said. “We’re all wrong.”
Finding, hiring and retaining the best employees is one of the most important parts of running a startup company, he said. Sales and marketing people are essential, he said. But he didn’t always think that way.
“Original model was no salespeople,” Elmendorf said. “Ok, that model doesn’t work.”
His latest startup, Trucking Office, has since hired a few sales people.
Startups should also focus on having cash in the bank, Elmendorf said.
“Depending on the business model you pick, you might always be fundraising.”
Startups need to also focus on customer acquisition costs.
“These are essential things to do the business,” he said.
When someone asked Elmendorf how he focused on the trucking industry, he said his team originally wanted to supply accounting software to all small businesses. But they found the trucking niche and that’s where they are focused because it’s a large and important market.
“I never thought I would be excited about doing accounting software for truckers,” he said.
But he is. The software helps independent truckers do their jobs better and fight big conglomerates, he said.
The Kirpeep Team: Sara Moffett, Steven Quintanilla, Kyle Jennings, John Lozano and Naomi Rios. Photo courtesy of Kirpeep
The Geekdom Fund has invested $25,000 each into two startup companies to be based at Geekdom, a downtown San Antonio coworking and collaboration space.
The teams are KirPeep and ParLevel Systems, said Nick Longo, director of Geekdom.
“Both teams attempted to get the Geekdom Fund in this past round,” Longo said. “For really a myriad of reasons, they didn’t make it through. But they took all of the advice we gave them and met with mentors and came back prepared to tell their stories.”
Longo and the four other members of the Geekdom Fund board met on Tuesday with applicants. The Geekdom Fund board meets every month. Last month, they did not give out any money. Previously, Grapevine, a reputation management firm aimed at hotels and restaurants, received a $25,000 Geekdom investment.
“I’m encouraging teams that apply for the Geekdom Fund to meet with mentors before they apply,” Longo said.
Geekdom members can find the hours that various mentors are available on the member dashboard online, Longo said. The Geekdom Fund Board members including Longo, Jason Seats, Pat Condon, John Mosher and Mike Troy all have times listed that they are available to meet with entrepreneurs.
Last month when the Geekdom Fund did not make any investments, the teams pitching weren’t as prepared as the board would have liked, Longo said. Each team must fill out an application including a Lean Canvas, or one-page business plan, and they are given 10 minutes to pitch their company to the board.
“This is their first money,” Longo said. “This opens up the opportunity for them to get more money.”
KirPeep hasn’t launched yet. The site is focused on creating a system for bartering.
“KirPeep stands for “Keep it real, people,” according to the company’s blog post. “Our vision statement says it all, “We empower those who provide value to the community by making it easy to exchange goods and services, with or without money.” We want to make it possible for individuals to trade not only goods, but also services in exchange for money, goods, or other services. What sets us apart from other bartering sites is the fact that we see how trading services benefit our communities.”
The KirPeep team is made up of Sara Moffett, Steven Quintanilla, Kyle Jennings, John Lozano and Naomi Rios.
ParLevel System, founded two months ago by Walter Teele and Luis Pablo Gonzalez, is working on a monitoring system for vending machine operators.
ParLevel installs a wireless meter inside vending machines so that the operators can get real-time access to their inventory, Teele said.
Right now, the vending machine world is divided up into new machines with the latest technology and older machines that require companies to visit them to find out what inventory needs updating, Teele said.
ParLevel seeks to give those operators with older vending machines real time information on inventory to save time and money, Teele said. The company is working on the software and hardware box now, he said. They came up with the idea after Gonzalez’s uncle told them about a problem he was having with his vending machine business in Mexico. He said he wanted to be able to see into the machines at any time to see what product he needed. Currently, a delivery truck operator must visit the machines and write down what they need. Then he has to go back to his truck and load up the inventory and go back to the machine and install it. The ParLevel System eliminates all of that, Teele said. Instead, the operator leaves the warehouse with the inventory when it’s needed at the machine, he said.
Both Teele and Gonzalez are from Mexico and they graduated from Trinity University and University of Texas at San Antonio.
“We are very entrepreneurial since we were little kids,” Teele said.
The Geekdom fund investment allows ParLevel to patent its idea and form its company and take care of other business, Teele said.
“It puts a challenge in front of us we have to fulfill,” he said.
Team dynamics are very important in the selection process for the Geekdom Fund, Longo said. He considers the team and its abilities over their idea, he said.
“No one is ever going to give you money for an idea,” Longo said. “They’ll give you money when you get to that next level, the product.”
Disclosure: Geekdom is a sponsor of Silicon Hills News.