Archive for the ‘North Carolina’ Category
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
 Joseph DeSimone RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – When Jim Roberts joined the NC Center of Innovation for Nanobiotechnology (COIN) last summer, he needed a quick introduction to nanotechnology. So COIN sent him to the Commercialization of Micro-nano Systems Conference (COMS), held that year in New Mexico. Roberts discovered that plans for the 2011 conference had fallen through.
The organizers of COMS told Roberts, who has always been quick to capitalize on economic development opportunities, that if North Carolina could raise $50,000 it could put on the event, which is the premiere industry conference. Houston was also in the running. “We raised $53,000 and landed the event,” he says. “It’s a big win for the Centers of Innovation created by the NC Biotechnology Center.”
So, The annual Commercialization of Micro-Nano Systems Conference (COMS 2011) being held Aug 28-31 in Greensboro. It has shaped up to be a who’s who of the micro-nano technology (MNT) community, bringing together leaders in North Carolina with those from around the globe. Plenary Speakers include: Anthony Atala, MD, Joseph M. DeSimone, PhD and Paul M. Zavracky, PhD.
 Dr. Anthony Atala, director, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Dr. Atala is the W.H. Boyce Professor, Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest University. Dr. Atala is a practicing surgeon and a key thought leader in regenerative medicine. His current breakthroughs include the world’s first engineered urethras using 3D printers to engineer human kidneys in a laboratory, and he is currently working to launch the Virginia Tech/Wake Forest Center for Veterinary Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. DeSimone is the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University. DeSimone is also an adjunct member at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Nanofab techniques for biomedicine
His research group is focused on nanofabrication techniques translated from the semiconductor industry that enables the manufacture of highly uniform nanoparticles with precise size and shape.
This process, called Particle Replication in Non-Wetting Templates (PRINT), is currently being commercialized for biomedical applications through the spin-out company Liquidia Technologies, which has a PRINT-enabled flu vaccine therapeutic in clinical development.
Dr. Zavracky, President of North American and European Operations at MEMSIC Corporation, has more than 30 years of business, scientific and academic experience, serving most recently as Dean of Northeastern University’s School of Technological Entrepreneurship.
Prior to that, he co-founded The MicroOptical Corporation and, while serving as president and COO, developed two-axis MEMS micro-mirrors and successfully launched the company’s military, medical and consumer head-mounted display businesses. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the founding team and COO of Kopin Corporation, where he spearheaded its development of silicon on insulator (SOI) materials and SOI MEMS devices.
Former Gov. Jim Hunt, Sen. Kay Hagan delivering keynotes
 NC Sen. Kay Hagan Demonstrating the support for these important emerging technologies, James Hunt, Governor of North Carolina (1977-1985; 1993-2001) and Kay R. Hagan, United States Senator for North Carolina, will deliver keynote addresses. Also speaking is Sally Tinkle, PhD, Acting Director, National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee, Committee on Technology National Science and Technology Council.
The NNI brings together the expertise needed to advance this broad and complex field—creating a framework for shared goals, priorities, and strategies that help each participating Federal agency leverage the resources of all participating agencies. With the support of the NNI, nanotechnology R&D is taking place in academic, government, and industry laboratories across the United States. MANCEF is not only proud to welcome these distinguished members of the policy making bodies to COMS, but also welcomes members of the triple helix; Education, Government and Industry, to join us in leading the next revolution of emerging technologies.
North Carolina is already a top player in nanotechnology, ranked fourth behind only Silicon Valley, Boston, and Houston. It is poised to become one of the major centers in the field, according to industry experts. Landing the COMS event for the state is a significant step.
Tags: Anthony Atala, COIN, Commercializaiton of Micro-Nano Systems Conference 2011, COMS, Greensboro, Jim Roberts, Joseph DijSimone, naofabrication, NC, NC Biotechnology Center, NC State University, Paul M. Zavracky, Sen. Kay Hagan, UNC Chapel Hill
Posted in Carolinas, Events, Nanotech, North Carolina | Comments Off
Monday, July 18th, 2011
 Joe Procopio Adzerk Founder and CEO James Avery is the kind of guy you just sort of immediately feel a kinship with. It’s not because he’s filthy rich, although he is, or because he’s quick to give you a sticker, he’s got tons of them, it’s the fact that he’s a straight talker who always happens to know exactly what he’s talking about.
Example: At the recent Tech Jobs Under the Big Top job fair, when a dozen RTP startups got up on stage to present to roughly 250 job seekers, Avery showed a minute or two of the Startup Guys video, which then faded to black with the caption:
“Not all startups are full of ****.”
What Did He Just Say?
Huge laugh from the crowd, but this is exactly what Avery is about. It’s a joke, right? Or is it? I dig that. Plus he hired someone from that event, so obviously at least one other person dug it as well.
I feel a kinship with Avery because we took a similar path. We both got out of the corporate technology world and started one-person consulting practices that grew over time into larger and more successful consulting practices. Neither of us were ultimately happy, no wait, neither of us were fulfilled. Something was missing.
It was the startup thing.
So while I started shifting the focus of my practice to the startup world, Avery went out and started another company.
Enter Adzerk
More specifically, he bought an ad network in 2007 which was bare bones, and he replaced it and built on top of it. In the beginning, he was only using it for himself, but then he started another vertical ad network and modified the software to run both of them, The Lounge and Ruby Row.
When he tried to start a third ad network, he realized that the software itself was a more compelling play than creating and running ad networks.
Now, there’s a long history of companies in the ad-tech industry trying to run networks and sell software at the same time, and usually the software part ends up becoming the ugly stepchild. You just can’t do both and have both be successful. So in December 2010, he sold off one of the ad networks and focused on the stepchild.
The RTP Startup Playbook
An office in American Underground came first. And when the Underground announced via Twitter that Adzerk was moving in, Avery got a tweet asking if he was hiring.
Now he had space, an engineer, and a little bit of runway. So when he saw how much of an impact those dollars made, he knew he needed more.
He ran the gamut of the RTP support structure, including the aforementioned job fair, the CED Venture Conference (although he knew everyone there), TechMedia’s Internet Summit (where he met the guys from Argyle, Spring Metrics, and JobKatch), Launch Durham (although he launched at Calacanis’ LAUNCH Conference), and even though he was too far along for Startup Stampede or Launchbox, he eventually hired three former Launchboxers.
Elevator Pitch
Most every ad server has two fundamental problems. It’s likely built on 90s technology and it’s probably run by a big media company.
Adzerk is independent and based on current generation technology. And they innovate. Right now they have what Avery calls an “incrementally better ad server.” It’s faster, the ads get served asynchronously, stats are real time, all cloud based, scales quickly.
Some publishers care a lot about this, others don’t. So Adzerk has carved out a market where those features are differentiators. But Avery knows that having an “incrementally better” mousetrap is not enough.
So Adzerk is going after bigger game. They’re bucking the traditional model – enterprise software, contracts, etc. Thus, the pitch becomes “let’s change the way ad-serving works.”
Good pitch!
Eight months go by. $650K seed round.
This is where the story gets a little funny, because out of that $650K Avery finished raising this month, exactly $25,000, or just a little under 4%, came from in-state.
Avery says he was naïve as every other first-time fundraiser, figuring he’d go to the people he knew, find the right ones at the right time, and get just what he needed to get to the next level. It took about a month before he realized he needed to talk to anyone and everyone who would pick up the phone. So he did.
That says two things. But neither of them is a soap-boxy “Local investors need to invest in more local companies!”
Santa Claus. What?
I’ve got a great analogy for this. This is like asking Santa Claus to quit bringing a bunch of presents every Christmas and instead just show up with one present on the 25th of each month.
I know. That one came to me in a traffic jam.
The frustrating thing about the RTP investment region is that we’ve got a bunch of investors and a bunch of startups but 95% of the time the goals of one do not match the intentions of the other, and vice versa.
When Avery and I discussed this, the lament wasn’t “Man, it would be cool if the local VCs would start investing their big bucks in early stage companies,” it was more like “Man, it would be cool if we had some apparatus here by which several early-stage companies could raise $100K on a standard term sheet.”
That’s the first thing. The second thing is a lot more hopeful.
Startup Investing Enters the 2000s
Adzerk’s path to funding is not unique. There have been a number of investments here lately that have involved money from the west coast, New York, pretty much everywhere, and it’s getting easier. During his fundraise, Avery left the area twice, and one of those trips was to shake hands with the lead before they signed the term sheet.
It’s a good tale, a no-BS founder product company with customers and revenue operates within a robustly-evolving support system to land seed-stage money and swing for the fences
Rinse and repeat, people.
Joe Procopio heads up product engineering for sports media startup StatSheet . He also owns consulting firm Intrepid Company (http://IntrepidCompany.com) and creative network Intrepid Media and runs the startup social ExitEvent (http://ExitEvent.com). Joe can be reached via Twitter @jproco and read at joeprocopio.com.
Tags: Adzerk, Adzerk seed round, Amercian Underground, CED Venture Conference, Durham, Internet Summit, James Avery, Joe Procopio, NC, RTP, RTP Startup Playbook, Startup Guys, Startups, Tech Jobs Under the Big Top
Posted in Carolinas, Columns, Events, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, Tech Culture, TechLife | 2 Comments »
Friday, July 15th, 2011
 RALEIGH, NC – Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a memory device that is soft and functions well in wet environments – opening the door to a new generation of biocompatible electronic devices.
“We’ve created a memory device with the physical properties of Jell-O,” says Dr. Michael Dickey, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research.
Researchers have created a memory device with the physical properties of Jell-O, and that functions well in wet environments.
Conventional electronics are typically made of rigid, brittle materials and don’t function well in a wet environment. “Our memory device is soft and pliable, and functions extremely well in wet environments – similar to the human brain,” Dickey says.
Prototypes of the device have not yet been optimized to hold significant amounts of memory, but work well in environments that would be hostile to traditional electronics. The devices are made using a liquid alloy of gallium and indium metals set into water-based gels, similar to gels used in biological research.
The device’s ability to function in wet environments, and the biocompatibility of the gels, mean that this technology holds promise for interfacing electronics with biological systems – such as cells, enzymes or tissue. “These properties may be used for biological sensors or for medical monitoring,” Dickey says.
Uses ions instead of electrons
The device functions much like so-called “memristors,” which are vaunted as a possible next-generation memory technology. The individual components of the “mushy” memory device have two states: one that conducts electricity and one that does not. These two states can be used to represent the 1s and 0s used in binary language. Most conventional electronics use electrons to create these 1s and 0s in computer chips. The mushy memory device uses charged molecules called ions to do the same thing.
In each of the memory device’s circuits, the metal alloy is the circuit’s electrode and sits on either side of a conductive piece of gel. When the alloy electrode is exposed to a positive charge it creates an oxidized skin that makes it resistive to electricity. We’ll call that the 0. When the electrode is exposed to a negative charge, the oxidized skin disappears, and it becomes conducive to electricity. We’ll call that the 1.
Normally, whenever a negative charge is applied to one side of the electrode, the positive charge would move to the other side and create another oxidized skin – meaning the electrode would always be resistive. To solve that problem, the researchers “doped” one side of the gel slab with a polymer that prevents the formation of a stable oxidized skin. That way one electrode is always conducive – giving the device the 1s and 0s it needs for electronic memory.
The paper, “Towards All-Soft Matter Circuits: Prototypes of Quasi-Liquid Devices with Memristor Characteristics,” was published online July 4 by Advanced Materials. The paper was co-authored by NC State Ph.D. students Hyung-Jun Koo and Ju-Hee So, and NC State INVISTA Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Orlin Velev. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Tags: bio/electronics interface, biomolecular engineering, jell0-like memory device, Michael Dickey, NC State University, University Tech
Posted in Carolinas, IT, North Carolina, University Tech | Comments Off
Friday, July 15th, 2011
 DURHAM, NC - Joystick Labs has named the first team who will participate in its 2011 Summer Underground program.
wefiends, a Los Angeles based developer founded by brothers Nick and Kevin Barrios, develop fun, creative, and original games that anyone can enjoy. They have just completed Sushi Boy Thunder, a free to play, lightning-fast arcade dodger for iPhone and iPad that features incredible action and fun at supersonic speed, unlockable outfits and characters, tilt and tap control, and an original soundtrack, and Game Center Leaderboards so players can compete with friends.
As part of Joystick Labs, wefiends will develop “We Make Movies”, an iOS game that places gamers in the role of Hollywood producer working against the deadline and budget to create the best movies. Players create their movie poster, use their time management skills to create the best movie, see the audience reaction – and share their results and compete against their friends.
Joystick Labs, founded in 2010, provides startup video game entrepreneurs a unique mix of early-stage seed funding, mentorship, services, and networking. Teams that participated in the Fall 2010 program will begin shipping their titles this summer.
“We were looking to become part of an accelerator program and were excited to find a program specifically for game studios,” said Nick Barrios, wefiends founder, “The opportunities and resources that Joystick provides will accelerate the development of our studio and our next title.”
Joystick has also announced that applications are once again open. Game developers can apply online now, and selected teams receive funding, mentorship and access to technology, office space and networking opportunities.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and Joystick Labs looks for teams who possess an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for their game idea. The best game concepts will be innovative and present an opportunity for commercial success.
For more information or to apply, please visit www.joysticklabs.com.
Tags: Durham, game development accelerator, Joystick Labs, Los Angeles, NC, Sushi Boy Thunder, We make movies, wefiends
Posted in Carolinas, games, Internet/New Media, North Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
 Frank Churhill's music catalog includes "Snow White" and other Disney classics. By Allan Maurer
Would you like to have an income from the music used in classic Walt Disney’s animated features such as “Snow White,” “Dumbo,” or “Bambi?” Interested in acquiring an income stream that is also a conversation starter? Cary-NC-based The Royalty Exchange, an online company created by the founders of SongVest, has begun auctioning royalty streams from songs, TV shows and movies.
The first auction, which began July 2 and lasts until July 16, is for the royalties oof Disney song writer Frank Churchill’s catalog. Churchill joined Disney Studeios in 1930 adn his work includes songs from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, ((“Heigh Ho,” “Whistle While You Work,” “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “I’m Wishing”), Dumbo and Bambi.
Churchill scored 65 Disney shorts, including “Who Killed Cock Robin.”
Buyers get a look at previous royalty income and details about the items for sale and compete in an auction. Winners will be paid royalties via organizations controlling them, such as BMI, ASCAP for music and the Screen Writers Guild for TV shows.
Sean Peace, founder and CEO of The Royalty Exchange and SongVest, is a tech-savvy computer expert with grew up in Henderson, NC, just 45 minutes north of Raleigh. He attended UNC Wilmington as well as UNC Chapel Hill, where he majored in economics. Upon graduation, Peace started three technology companies, one of which helped integrate technology into classrooms via wireless networks and connected teachers with common educational tools.
Peace tells TechJournal South the idea for SongVest, which is similar to The Royalty Exchange, but more focused on selling a piece of a song or a catalog as memorabilia than as an income stream, evolved after he had a conversation with Tia Sillers, a former teacher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He met Sillers while he was a student there and she harbored dreams of becoming a songwriter, which she later fulfilled.
“She mentioned that at some point when she retired she would sell her catalog,” says Peace. A songwriter’s catalog packages the royalty interest in all of an artist’s work for sale to investors.
“People buy catalogs based on a financial multiple of how much it made over the last several years,” Peace explains, “paying 10 or 20 times the royalty stream.”
SongVest, though, only hit a small percentage of the market and it proved harder than Peace first expected to get people to understand the concept.
The Royalty Exchange uses essentially the same auction mechanics of SongVest, but the multiples on the music or other creative property being auctions is a modest 10 to 1.
Peace notes that “Royalties are fairly consistent and trend one way or the other. But there is a potential upside. It’s possible that an artist or song will suddenly get big. A song from an album might be used in a movie or on (the TV show) “Glee.” So you could have a little spike, although it’s not something you should count on,” he adds.
Buyers will get to see what they have on an online dashboard, and eventually The Royalty Exchange may add a social component so buyers can show people on Facebook or other services what they purchased.
Down the road, Peace says, he’s looking at the possibility of creating a secondary market for royalties for accredited investors.
Tags: Allan Maurer, Bambi, Cary, Disney animated classics, Dumbo, Frank Churchill music catalog, income stream from royalties, memorabilia, NC, online auctions, Sean Peace, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, SongVest, the Royalty Exchange
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, North Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
 RESTON, VA – The digital measurement firm comScore has chalked up a two-year, $50 million revolving credit deal with the Bank of America.
The company will pay interest only monthly on the debt. Outstanding principal and interest will be due at maturity.
The money will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Tags: Bank of America, comScore, digital measurment, Reston, revolving credit facility, VA
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, Money, North Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – North Carolina entrepreneurs, most working in companies with fewer than 50 employees, expect to expand over the next 12 months and do new hiring, according to the annual survey by the CED, a Triangle-based non-profit that promotes entrepreneurial activities. The top concern among the those who responded to the CED survey? Managed growth.
These results, while not conclusive, confirm the impression that the entrepreneurial community in the Research Triangle is on the upswing,” says Joan Siefert Rose, CED president. “While many entrepreneurs continue to express uncertainty about government policy and the economic climate in general, they are upbeat about their own enterprises and showing new signs of confidence,” Rose said.
The online survey was conducted by Percept Research between April 21, 2011 and May 6, 2011. Participants were asked to respond anonymously to questions about their business and their experience with CED. 873 people participated in the survey, about an 11% response rate.
The 2011 CED member survey found that:
- 85 percent of respondents work in companies with 50 or fewer employees
- Industries represented are split equally among Technology, Life Sciences, and Business/Professional Services
- In the past year, 63 percent said they had expanded “a little” or “a lot”; more than 90 percent predict expansion in the next 12 months
- 30 percent say they are “likely” or “extremely likely” to hire new employees in the next 12 months; only 18 percent say they are “unlikely” to add employees, with the rest undecided
- The top 3 concerns ranked by respondents are managing growth, the state of the economy in general, and marketing
- Half of the respondents indicated that access to capital had “stayed the same” in the past year, with the other respondents equally split between expanded and contracted access to capital
- The most likely form of financing for companies is self-funding/”bootstrapping” (63 percent), followed by personal credit cards/line of credit (56 percent), and friends and family (35 percent). (Respondents were asked to check all that apply.)
- 29 percent report funding from angel investors; 18 percent from federal grants, such as SBIR; 15 percent from corporate partnering; and 14 percent from venture capital
- Half of respondents report doing business internationally
The following are verbatim anonymous responses to the 2011 survey question: “What are the top issues that concern your company?”
Managing Growth:
“Attracting quality employees to NC. They are worried about the potential for the next job following acquisition or failure of the venture.”
“Finding good talent that fits a small company culture.”
“Access to qualified technical personnel.”
“As the company grows, effective communication across borders is an issue of great importance to us.”
“Building a culture that allows people to have fun while being productive. Creating an organization that will scale.”
“Completing the management team.”
“Finding good talent. People who really have their heads on right are very difficult to find.”
“Finding world class software developers with a startup orientation in RTP.”
“Meshing of Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Generation Y cultures and mindsets.”
“Time management and efficiency. Constant need to upgrade technology, communications.”
The State of the Economy in General/Government Policy:
“The current anti-business attitude of the US government.”
“FDA clearance or lack thereof and the FDA’s goal that appears not to approve anything.”
“Changing laws, uncertainty due to federal government budget freezes, political posturing.”
“Getting rid of punitive tax laws and ensuring that government stays out of my way.”
“Grants from federal sources – too slow!!!! Too capricious!!!!”
“Preponderance of incentives that support the incumbent dirty industry we’re trying to displace.”
“Obamacare and how it will affect product pricing and a myriad of other issues – it should be undone.”
“Regulatory environment with Big Government intervention is the biggest of all the problems.”
Marketing
“Finding co-development partners.”
“Finding clients who have money and are ready to start work.”
“Getting appointments with decision makers.”
“Getting local media to work on behalf of the local entrepreneurial scene and promote companies that are in the area more consistently.”
“Need mentors!! Need business incubation to learn how to market effectively.”
“How to effectively use social media/communications.”
“Selecting the best strategic alliance partners.”
Tags: annual CED survey 2011, hiring, IT, managed growth, NC entrepereneurs expect expansion
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
By Elizabeth Johnson and Kevin Ceglowski
Poyner Spruill
 Elizabeth Johnson Recent controversy about the tracking capabilities of mobile software, including apps provided by Apple and Google, highlights the increased push for privacy policies covering mobile applications.
Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s privacy subcommittee, recently sent a letter to the CEOs of Apple and Google asking them to require “clear and understandable” privacy policies for all applications in the Apple App Store and Android App Market. Currently, neither company proactively enforces a requirement for apps to include these policies.
Senator Franken’s letter cites a study by TRUSTe and Harris Interactive that found less than 20 percent of the top free mobile applications link to a privacy policy. The effort to expand the use of mobile privacy policies follows increased scrutiny of online privacy policies by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In December 2010, the FTC released a privacy report criticizing privacy policies as overly lengthy and difficult for consumers to understand.
This push for mobile app privacy policies comes on the heels of Senator Franken’s Congressional hearing in early May after high-profile coverage about a location database discovered in Apple iOS software for iPhones. That tracking file, which contained information about users’ locations using data from Wi-Fi hot spots and cell towers, was extensively covered by major news organizations. Google’s Android software has similar tracking capabilities and creates a similar log file.
In addition to the bad publicity related to these tracking issues, lawsuits have resulted. On June 9, 2011, two plaintiffs in Florida filed a class action complaint against Google alleging the Android software engaged in illegal tracking and recording of users and that Google violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Florida law by failing to inform Android users that they were being tracked. Apple has faced similar lawsuits recently.
Mobile app developers should include comprehensive privacy policies
In light of the recent press about mobile tracking and the increased attention to mobile devices and apps from Congress, mobile application developers should include comprehensive privacy policies with their software. In so doing, developers should bear several key points in mind and learn from the mistakes made by past targets of government enforcement.
Privacy policies must be carefully crafted to comply with the various laws dictating required content. The laws that apply will vary based on industry, the type of data collected, and the age and residency of users. Age and residency can be particularly challenging to discern in a mobile environment.
Mobile application providers face special challenges in drafting comprehensive privacy policies that can be read and understood by users reading them on small screens. Short form notices, sometimes called “highlights notices,” can be helpful, but developers must ensure material information is conveyed without excessive linking that can bury crucial content.
The FTC frequently targets companies that make overly broad privacy promises and then fail to follow them. These companies typically make promises regarding information sharing or security that they inadvertently violate. For example, in 2010, the FTC took an enforcement action against Twitter, which stated in its privacy policy, “Twitter is very concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information.
We employ administrative, physical, and electronic measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access,” but subsequently failed to secure users’ accounts and fell prey to hackers. The resultant settlement required Twitter to implement a comprehensive security program and submit to a third party audit of that program every other year for 10 years, among other equitable remedies. This action is representative of dozens of similar actions by the FTC in recent years.
Google provides another example of privacy policy enforcement. When launching Google Buzz in 2010, Google told consumers “When you sign up for a particular service that requires registration, we ask you to provide personal information. If we use this information in a manner different than the purpose for which it was collected, then we will ask you for your consent prior to such use.”
The FTC enforced
The FTC enforced, claiming that Google: (1) violated its privacy policies by using information provided for its Gmail email program for social networking purposes without obtaining users’ permission in advance, misrepresented that users who clicked on certain options in the Gmail system would not be enrolled in Buzz, (2) misrepresented that users could exercise control over what personal information would be made public, and (3) failed to disclose adequately that users’ frequent email contacts would become public by default.
Consumers sued on similar grounds. Google’s settlement with the FTC requires it to implement a comprehensive privacy program and calls for privacy audits by a third party biennially for the next 20 years. This action represents the first time an FTC settlement ordered a company to implement a comprehensive privacy program to protect the privacy of consumers’ information. Google’s settlement of the consumer class action lawsuit requires it to create an $8.5 million fund to award money to groups that provide education on Internet privacy.
As a last point of practice, mobile app providers should ensure that they understand precisely what information they will receive from operating platforms, device providers, and social networks, as applicable. Failing to disclose to consumers with particularity the types of information received when the app is used often serves as grounds for government enforcement, Congressional inquiry, and lawsuits. Keep in mind that an ever-broader array of data, such as user location, IP address, and device identifiers may be considered “personal information” that should be subject to a privacy policy.
Despite the risk inherent in making enforceable privacy promises to consumers, the abundance of lawsuits related to online and mobile tracking, the applicable legal requirements and the scrutiny from the press, regulators, legislators and consumers collectively mean that implementation of privacy policies is strictly necessary for mobile apps. The key to managing these risks is to understand the legal landscape, to understand the operation of the software, and to develop a prudent approach that serves the application developers and the companies providing mobile apps to their consumers and employees.
Kevin Ceglowski may be reached at 919.783.2853 or kceglowski@poynerspruill.com. Elizabeth Johnson may be reached at 919.783.2971 orejohnson@poynerspruill.com.
Tags: Elizabeth Johnson, FTC, Google privacy, Kevin Ceglowski, Legal, Mobile app development, need for comprehensive mobile app privacy policies, Poyner Spruill, Sen. Al Franken on privacy
Posted in Carolinas, Google, Internet/New Media, IT, Legal, Mobile, North Carolina, Security | Comments Off
Friday, June 24th, 2011
 A new study released by G Data Software finds that Americans’ knowledge of Internet security is scattered with misconceptions and fallacies that expose PC users to a slew of online threats. The G Data Security Survey 2011 entitled, “How do users assess threats on the Internet?,” surveyed nearly 16,000 PC users in 11 countries, including more than 5,500 respondents in the United States.
The international report found that Americans are dangerously out-of-touch with the sophistication of today’s threat landscape. When asked if they are more wary of being exposed to malware on porn sites or horseback riding sites, more than 40% of Americans said porn sites.
However, in reality, hobby and amateur sites are far easier to attack than adult sites. Hobby sites are also much slower in removing malware — and with visitors not being careful on these sites — they pose a greater infection risk than adult sites, where visitors expect danger.
When it comes to how malware impacts computers, consumer expectations overwhelmingly haven’t kept pace with today’s stealthy threats. Nearly all Americans reported that contaminated computers would show signs of infection through slowdowns, crashes, or pop-ups. Yet, today’s malware is operated by professionals looking to surreptitiously steal sensitive information, without risking detection.
The survey includes several other notable findings, including:
- 89% of Americans report using security software to protect their PCs, with 46% using paid software and 42.7% relying on free versions. The U.K. had the highest number of users with a security solution installed (94%), while Russia had the lowest (83%).
- 54% of Americans believe that most malware is spread through email, but in today’s world the biggest threat is from malicious links – spread not only via email, but also instant message, social networks, and other social channels. And yet, more than half of Americans click on links in social networks. Only 49.4% do not click on any links on social networks.
- No free antivirus product currently offers full-suite protection (including anti-spam, web filters, firewalls, etc), yet 82% of Americans believe that free software is as good as paid antivirus software.
- Among those Americans who use antivirus software, nearly 60% believe they have a full-suite of protection – however, only 46% use paid software. Because only paid software has full-suite protection, many PC users wrongly believe they are fully-protected. There’s a domino effect at play here, for example, if these users spread links that they believe have been scanned, but their free antivirus solution doesn’t actually have that capability.
- Nearly 53% of Americans wrongly believe that torrent and peer-to-peer sites are the largest source of malware, when as mentioned, malicious websites reign here.
- Overall, Americans stack closely to other surveyed nations. Germans were the best informed about the threats lurking online, while Russian respondents believed the most security myths.
The full G Data 2011 Security Survey, including country-by-country comparisons, can be found here: G Data Software’s Security Survey 2011: How do users assess threats on the Internet?
Tags: cybersecurity, dangerous links, Durham, email, G Data Software, instant messaging, Internet myths expose users to threats, malicious links, malware, NC, security software, social channels, social networks, study, which sites are easiest to attack
Posted in Carolinas, Facebook, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, Security, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
 RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – NC IDEA, an organization committed to supporting business innovation and economic advancement in North Carolina, has awarded $205,000 in grants to five North Carolina startups in one of its most competitive cycles to-date.
Since its inception in 2006, NC IDEA’s grants program has awarded over $2.1M to 57 companies across the state, with these most recent awards being the eleventh cycle of the program.
The five grant recipients were chosen after a 4-month application and selection process, which drew over 110 applications from 17 counties across the state. A committee comprised of experienced venture investors, industry experts and seasoned entrepreneurs selected 23 companies to submit full proposals which was further narrowed down to ten finalists who were given the opportunity to pitch their idea in person, ultimately resulting in five winners.
“This most recent grant cycle was incredibly competitive, and we were extremely impressed with the quality of applicants,” said David Rizzo, President and CEO of NC IDEA. “As the applicant field became more narrow, our decisions became increasingly difficult.
So many of the companies were deserving of the money but in the end these five companies rose to the top. Our decisions came down to where our money will make the most impact, certainly for the companies, but ultimately for the state of North Carolina. We look forward to tracking the progress of our winners and working alongside them to become major contributors to the state’s business community.”
The following five companies are NC IDEA’s most recent grant recipients for the Spring 2011 cycle:
Keona Health makes an advanced Online Triage portal, which helps patients make smarter health choices, improves operations for healthcare providers, and saves money. The intelligence inside is the Insight Engine, which combines knowledge of the practice of medicine with statistics from thousands of previous encounters. Learn more at www.keonahealth.com.
Loyalese is an online loyalty platform that makes ecommerce loyalty easy for online shoppers and merchants. Consumers earn cash back and rewards for shopping, referring friends and recommending products, and merchants increase revenue through custom rewards that promote loyalty and word-of-mouth advocacy. Learn more at www.loyalese.com.
NanoForge produces copper nanowires, which are long filaments of copper ten times thinner than the wavelength of visible light. When spread onto a surface, the nanowires form a microscopic mesh that is nearly transparent and highly conductive. Such surfaces are a critical component of all touch screens, flat panel displays and photovoltaic cells. NanoForge’s unique copper nanowires revolutionize the manufacturing of these products by providing a low-cost alternative to the currently used crystalline Indium-tin-oxide on both glass and flexible plastic substrates.
OtherScreen is a consumer technology startup building a convergence platform for television and the Internet. The company believes there is a large opportunity to combine mobile Internet, broadcast TV, user-generated content and social gaming to form an entirely new layer of monetize-able consumer entertainment and solve the problem of partial viewer engagement. Learn more atwww.otherscreen.com.
Sarda Technologies is a clean-tech startup focused on reducing power loss in a wide range of electronic systems. Sarda’s product is a more efficient semiconductor switch for voltage converters that are widely used in portable, enterprise and consumer systems. Sarda’s switch reduces power loss which, in turn, increases system performance, extends battery life and reduces system size, weight and cost.
Keona Health – Chapel Hill, NC
Loyalese – Durham, NC
NanoForge – Durham, NC
OtherScreen – Charlotte, NC
Sarda Technologies – Durham, NC
The upcoming Fall 2011 grant opportunity for North Carolina based companies will open in mid-August. Learn more about NC IDEA’s grant application process, timeline and criteria at www.ncidea.org.
Tags: Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Durham, Keona Health, Loyalese, NC IDEA grants, NC Startups, OtherScreen, Sarda Technologies, spring 2011
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, Money, North Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
 Appia is one of the top 100 mobile focused private companies selected by AlwaysOn Alwayson, a mobile focused publication, has named 100 emerging mobile companies it says “are transforming big industry and creating viable business models for the mobile marketplace.” While the list is heavily weighted toward West Coast firms, four we’ve covered, Durham, NC-based Appia, the mobile apps store headed by Jud Bowman, and Georgia’s Snapfinger, and Columbia, MD-based BoxtTone, and Baltimore-based Millennial Media, made the list.
Morgan Stanley, DCM, KPMG, Hewlett-Packard, Blackstone Group, Bridge Bank, Norwest Venture Partners, Fenwick & West, Silicon Valley Bank and AlwaysOn editors selected the companies. They identified the top 100 private companies that are pushing aggressively into the mobile space and turning the old smartphone into a must-have connected device.
Companies were selected based on five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and media buzz.
The overall winner? Palo Alto, CA-based Flipboard, in the social and consumer networking category. Founded in 2010, the 30 employee company’s venture backers include: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Index Ventures, The Chernin Group, and SV Angel.
The list includes firms in the categories of Advertising, Cloud Services, Commerce, Consumer and Social Networking, Devices and Enabling Technologies.
While you’ll find many names you know on the list (Foursquare, Evernote, and BOKU, for instance, you may also encounter a few you haven’t heard of yet. It’s worth a look.
Top 100 emerging mobile companies list
Tags: AlwaysOn, Appia, Baltimore, BoxTone, Columbia, Durham, Georgia, Maryland, Millennial Media, Mobile 100, mobile advertising companies, mobile device makers, mobile enablers, mobile social networking, NC, Snapfinger, top 100 mobile private companies
Posted in Carolinas, Georgia, Maryland, Mobile, North Carolina, Potomac, smartphones, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
 WINSTON-SALEM, NC – You have heard those lightning fast disclaimers at the end of radio and television advertisements. Do they scare you away or just seem like white noise required by regulatory agencies?
Wake Forest University Schools of Business and Northwestern University research reported online in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that fast disclaimers can give consumers the impression that an advertisement is trying to conceal information. However, trusted brands (versus trust-unknown or not-trusted brands) are immune to the adverse effects of fast disclaimers.
“Speak slowly or carry a trusted brand,” said Kenneth Herbst, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Wake Forest University Schools of Business and co-author of the study.
Recommendations to marketers
Eli J. Finkel, associate professor of psychology at Northwestern University and another co-author, offers concrete recommendations for marketers: “If you’re promoting a brand consumers don’t know or don’t trust, use a slow disclaimer. Because consumers don’t know whether they can trust you, you have to be careful to avoid seeming sneaky. Fast disclaimers can seem sneaky.”
“In contrast, if you’re promoting a trusted brand, feel free to save time by using a fast disclaimer. Use your precious advertising seconds promoting your product rather than spending them on your disclaimer,” he said.
The study shows that when consumers either lack trust information about an advertised brand or believe that the brand is not trustworthy, fast disclaimers undermine their purchase intention. In contrast, when consumers trust an advertised brand, they appear to be unaffected by the disclaimer speed.
These findings have practical implications for advertisers and policy makers.
According to Herbst, policies that regulate disclaimer content but not disclaimer speed could systematically favor some companies over others.
“On the Dangers of Pulling a Fast One: Advertisement Disclaimer Speed, Brand Trust and Purchase Intention” is now available online and will appear in the February 2012 printed edition of Journal of Consumer Research.
Tags: Best Practices, fast ad disclaimers turn off consumers, Journal of Consumer Research, NC, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem
Posted in Carolinas, North Carolina, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
 A new Facebook-funded grants program will distribute up to $200,000 in awards this year to eligible nonprofits in Rutherford County, NC, where the social networking company is building a data center.
The Facebook-Rutherford Community Action Grants will use funds set aside as part of an agreement between the company and the county to bolster community nonprofits based on the recommendations of a formal grants committee made up of Facebook representatives and local leaders.
“Facebook is committed to playing a positive role in Rutherford County and all the communities where we operate,” said George Henry, manager of the $450 million data center going up just outside Forest City. “We work globally, but live locally — and we want our larger success to help strengthen our hometowns.”
A committee will review funding requests by local 501c3 organizations, schools, and colleges that meet the eligibility guidelines described at a new tab on the Rutherford Data Center Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RutherfordDataCenter.
The committee’s criteria will include the number of Rutherford County citizens served by the organization and the proposed program, how well the services of the organization and proposed program match the needs of county citizens and how closely the program addresses Facebook priorities such as using technology in education and economic development.
“In 2010, as we worked with Facebook officials on deciding where to locate, one of things that struck everyone was Facebook’s deep interest in the local community, not just the facts and figures of its land purchase,” said John Condrey, county manager. “Facebook consistently stated how much it wanted to be a part of and assist the community where it located. They’ve put that commitment into action today, and Rutherford County is all the better for it.”
Data Center Develops
George Henry — who has worked in data centers for more than 15 years — also provided an update on the Facebook construction in Rutherford County.
“Big changes have come to the parcel of land that is quickly becoming the home of Facebook’s Rutherford County data center,” said Henry. “Some things are easily seen, like the demolition of the long vacant Mako Marine Building. Others are more subtle, but absolutely essential, like our ongoing work to the site’s electrical substation.”
More than 440 people have worked on the construction phase of the Facebook data center totalling almost 400,000 man hours, including more than 22,000 last week alone.
The data center in Rutherford County will use technology developed as part of Facebook’s Open Compute Project, launched in April as a way to transform the energy efficiency of global data centers by sharing innovations with the entire computer industry.
This advanced technology delivered a 38 percent increase in energy efficiency at 24 percent lower cost for Facebook. All companies now have access to the technology and can contribute their own innovations.
Construction continues on the data center and will wrap up in early 2012. Many construction subcontractors are still hiring qualified applicants. More information can be found at www.facebook.com/RutherfordDataCenter.
Tags: Facebook data center, Facebook non profit grants program, NC, Rutherford County
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, Facebook, North Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
 BADIN, NC – Electronic Recyclers International, which recycles computer products, plans to open a regional recycling facility at the former Alcoa smelting plant in Badin. The company will fill 200 jobs for the operation.
ERI plans a $5 million investment in the 165,000-square-foot site, and Alcoa has pledged a matching $5 million investment to improve the building.
The company recycles computers and cell phones for clients such as Best Buy, Samsung and the U.S. government.
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Tags: 200 jobs, Baden, cell phone recycling, computer, Electronic Recyclers International, NC, tech jobs
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, North Carolina, TechJobs | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
 MOORESVILLE, NC – Home improvement chain Lowe’s, based in Mooresville, NC, says it plans to hire 300 people for IT jobs, including 150 new positions. The jobs are based in Mooresville.
Lowe’s said it is beefing up its IT operation to “Develop a technology portfolio that can seamlessly support the operations of more than 1,750 stores nationwide, create user-friendly processes and applications on Lowe’s.com, ensure secure data sharing and storage, and prepare for future platforms that will help Lowe’s better serve its customers.”
Lowe’s CEO Mike Brown said the firm seeks “the most knowledgeable and talented IT professionals to help us meet our goal of supporting an industry-leading technology infrastructure that provides the best platforms and tools to exceed our customers’ expectations and create a first-class work environment for our employees.”
Openings include:
• Business analysis
• Engineering
• Communications network
• Ecommerce
• Application development
• Program management
• Project management
For more see Lowe’s career site.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
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Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: hiring 300 for IT jobs, Lowe's, Mike Brown, Mooresville, NC, tech jobs
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, IT, North Carolina, TechJobs | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
 NEW YORK – PAETEC Holding Corp. (NASDAQ GS: PAET), a nationwide provider of comprehensive communications solutions, today announced the launch of an expanded portfolio of cloud-based products and the planned deployment of new data centers coast-to-coast. The move comes on the heels of a national study that says the majority of U.S. data centers are running out of space.
As part of its overall cloud and data center strategy and leveraging its breadth and depth of experience in the cloud and data center space, PAETEC plans to add 13 data centers coast-to-coast by the end of 2012 to its current set of seven centers which will result in the company operating 20 centers nationwide.
“With the advent of high-speed networks and continued migration of network intelligence into the cloud, the need for these network-based services has increased dramatically and we see that trend continuing into the future,” said Arunas Chesonis, chairman and CEO of PAETEC.
ETEC currently has data centers in Andover, Mass., Bethlehem and Conshohocken, Pa., Richmond, Va., Milwaukee, Wis., Houston, Tex., and Phoenix, Ariz.
In 2011, the company has plans to expand to McLean, Va., Tampa, Fla., Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Mich., and Charlotte, N.C. In 2012, data centers are also planned for Dallas, Tex., Chicago, Ill., Northern California, Rochester, N.Y., Pittsburgh, Pa., Denver, Co., Atlanta, Ga. and a location in the Pacific Northwest.
Tags: Atlanta, Charlotte, FL, GA, McLean, NC, new data centers planned, PAETEC, Tampa, VA
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, Florida, Georgia, IT, North Carolina, Potomac, Virginia | Comments Off
Friday, May 20th, 2011
 Lawrence Lessig RALEIGH, NC -A bill to restrict municipal broadband efforts in North Carolina has drawn national attention. Lawrence Lessig, the Harvard Law professor well known for his expertise in Internet legal matters, has written an open letter on the Huffington Post urging NC Gov. Bev Perdue to veto the bill. Perdue has until midnight tonight to decide whether or not to sign or veto the bill.
“North Carolina is an overwhelmingly rural state. Relative to the communities it competes with around the globe, it has among the slowest and most expensive Internet service. No economy will thrive in the 21st century without fast, cheap broadband, linking citizens, and enabling businesses to compete,” Lessig writes in the post.
That’s why several municipalities in the state, such as Wilson, Salisbury and others, created their own city networks.
“These networks have been extraordinarily effective. The prices they offer North Carolinians is a fraction of the comparable cost of commercial network providers. The speed they offer is also much much faster,” Lesig notes.
Lesig notes that many communities and businesses in and out of the state oppose the bill.
Lesig argues, as we have repeatedly, that the Internet is as much essential infrastructure in the 21st century as electricity and water.
Stand with the majority of NC citizens
“And communities that rely solely upon private companies to provide public infrastructure will always have second-rate, or inferior, service,” he writes.
We should note that Time Warner Cable just this week boosted its Internet speed substantially for all NC Triangle area subscribers, but still falls short of the speeds offered via municipal broadband networks in the state such as Wilson’s.
Lesig urges Gov. Perdue to “Stand with the majority of North Carolina’s citizens, and affirm the right of communities to provide not just the infrastructure of yesterday — schools, roads, public lighting, public police forces, and fire departments — but also the infrastructure of tomorrow — by driving competition to provide the 21st century’s information superhighway.” — Allan Maurer
Additional resources:
Tags: Gov. Bev Perdue, Huffington Post, Lawrence Lesig, Legal, muncipal broadband networks, municipal broadband battles, Municipal broadband in NC, NC, restricting municipal broadband, Salisbury, Wilson
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, Legal, North Carolina | 1 Comment »
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
 Scott Kupor - Andreessen Horowitz By Allan Maurer
RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – How you find your way to a particular venture capital firm may tell them more about your potential as an entrepreneur than you think. That was one of the insider tips shared by VCs from four venture firms at the Entrepreneur’s Series Venture Outlook Wednesday at the Brier Creek Country Club.
The panel, moderated by Jason Caplain of Raleigh-based Southern Capitol Ventures, which conducts the series, included Scott Kupor, managing partner, Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Park, CA; Court Coursey, managing partner, Tomorrow Ventures, Palo Alto, CA; Len Jordan, venture partner, Madrona Venture Group, Seattle; and Chris Holden, general partner, Court Square Ventures, Charlottesville, VA.
Approaching VCs
“Find some way to get in,” said Andreessen Horolwitz’s Kupor. “Go through someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone.” That’s the way to get to the top of the list of people the firm wants to meet with, he said, adding, “If you can’t do that, I’d question your ability to make the contacts necessary to succeed.”
 Len Jordan of Madrona echoed Kupor. Madrona invested in Raleigh-based MaxPoint Interactive because CEO Joe Epperson followed up on a contact and visited Jordan in Seattle not long after closing an A round of financing. Jordan then kept an eye on the company for a year before investing in its B round.
Chris Holden of Court Square said there is not one, but a couple of ways into most VC firms. He noted that the firm often goes back and looks at its first contact with an entrepreneur to see if his startup has progressed since then before setting up a meeting.
He added that “Adeptness at asking us to crystalizeour responses to you all along the way and how you find your way to the firm are a litmus test, because you are going to have to find your way to partners, customers and your industry.”
Be Transparent
Another way to impress a venture capitalist, all agreed, is to be both prepared with relevant data – on the market, competitors, and strategy – but also to be transparent about not knowing every answer to every question.
“Know your competition better than I do,” Jordan said. “Tell us who they are and why you’ll win.”
Jordan also said that entrepreneurs can build trust in a “breakthrough moment” by admitting they don’t know the answer to a question or haven’t sorted through the problem yet. Then, if they come back a few days later with a solid answer – that makes an even better impression.
Holden noted that “Having all backup and supporting data is important from a due diligence perspective.”
 While the venture dance may often take a year or more, sometimes it happens quickly. Coursey of Tomorrow Ventures had a conversation with Appia founder and CEO Jud Bowman and invested in the online mobile app store 48 hours later.
Market size needed to get funding
All of the VCs said they look for startups approaching a problem in a large market. What do they consider a large market, an entrepreneur in the audience asked. They agreed that means at least $100 million, preferably more.
Several pointed out that even a very successful startup isn’t likely to capture all of a market, so it might only land half a $100 million market.
They also noted that companies that reach $10 million in revenue are much more likely to get substantial VC backing because so few startups ever reach that milestone.
Finally, they gave two fairly standard answers when asked what they thought the next big thing might be, mobile and cloud computing. “Everything is going to go to the cloud and we expect to see powerful things along those lines,” said Coursey of Tomorrow Ventures, an investor in Triangle-based Appia.
“The next big thing is that most people are going to have a PC in their pocket and we’re all making various bets on that,” said Kupor.
The next Entrepreneur Series, “Meet the Angels,” is June 9.
Tags: advice for entrepreneurs seeking fundings, Andreessen Horowitz, Chris Holden, Court Coursey, Court Square Ventures, Jason Caplain, Len Jordan, Madrona Venture Group, Scott Kupor, SCV Entrepreneur Series, Tomorrow Ventures
Posted in Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
By Allan Maurer
 Shannon Bauman DURHAM, NC – How do you get Google employees to move to Durham, NC and join a startup? Persistence worked for Spring Metrics, an analytics company that helps e-businesses understand what drives their revenue online. The company has signed two former employees of the search engine giant, a former product manager and an engineer.
“We didn’t actually look specifically for people who worked at Google. We were just looking for people we think are the best out there,” says Doug Kaufman, co-founder and CEO of Spring Metrics. But, he adds, “It does make the interview process easier knowing that Google puts them through the wringer.”
Google is known for its rigorous and daunting employee interview process.
Shannon Bauman, the former Google project manager, for instance, was asked: How many tennis balls fit in a 747? Why are manhole covers round? What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Bauman was at Google’s Mt. View headquarters for most of his four years with the company, but spent a few months at its Chapel Hill office prior to co-founding Spring Metrics. “There were a lot of smart people at Google,” he says.
“It was a shock to be in an environment with so many people smarter than me. It was daunting at first, but you learn to value it. There is a very open and collaborative environment there that helps foster the ability to get information from other people’s brains and make better products.”
Bauman says that when he started at Google, “It had 2,000 people. Four and a half years later, it’s 20,000 people. I was really more interested in working with smaller companies. I figured I’d learned a lot at Google, but the the things I’d keep learning by staying there were not as important as those I would learn by going to a startup. I thought of doing one myself, then met Doug and joined Spring Metrics.”
Networking paid off
He notes that he did a lot of networking when he first came to the area and “The Google name got me through a lot of doors.” At a Southern Capitol Ventures brunch, Jason Caplain introduced him to Kaufman.
“I love the Triangle,” he says. “The people the greenery, the space. It has so much going for it.” He admits, however, it is a bit harder to do a startup because there is less venture capital and angel money and fewer engineers than in Silicon Valley. “The more people you have in an ecosystem, the more things happen. California has ten times more people.”
Spring Metrics got its start with Launchbox Digital, the only Southeast accelerator to make a list of the top ten in the U.S., recently, then nabbed a $635,000 seed round from LaunchBox Digital, CBC New Media Group, Zelkova Ventures and Steve Vanderwoude and Lee Buck. The company’s product simplifies Web analytics to show only the data affecting the bottom line. It lets users see what is driving revenue and how they can actively generate more conversions.
Kaufman says that “If it were not for LaunchBox Digital, we probably would not have started this. Because of it, we knew we would have a much better chance of getting funding.”
A startup can do what a big company can’t
 Patrick Scott The company also set its sights on a Google engineer, Patrick Scott. The firm started talking with him at a very early stage, but as he saw where the company was going, “He realized it wasn’t going to fall off the map in five days,” says Kaufman. “So he got more comfortable and excited about a startup.”
But there was one other piece that worked in Spring Metrics’ favor. “There is something a startup can do that a big company can’t,” says Kaufman. “That is to really show someone how valuable they are. For us, pursuing this engineer, he knew we could only hire one guy. We showed him and told him how valuable he would be to us. We didn’t want just any engineer. We wanted him.”
That, he notes, “Goes a long way with people.”
Kaufman says the five-employee company is working on taking its product to another level. “We’re going to make this more useful, bring on another marketing person and bring on customers,” he says. While the firm is not looking for additional backing right now, “We will be,” says Kaufman.
Tags: Doug Kaufman, Durham, former Google employees at Spring Metrics, Google employee hiring questions, hiring Google employees, Jason Caplain, NC, Patrick Scott, Research Triangle, Shannon Bauman, Southeren Capitol Ventures, Spring Metrics, web analytics
Posted in Carolinas, Company Profile, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, North Carolina, People | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 9th, 2011
 RALEIGH, NC – Despite the fact that seven of the ten cities with the worst broadband deals from commercial providers are in North Carolina, the NC General Assembly has accepted Senate changes to its bill restricting municipal efforts to build their own broadband networks. The bill now goes to NC Gov. Bev Perdue for signing, although she has not commented on her position.
Five NC cities that have already created municipal broadband networks, Wilson, Salisbury, Morganton, Davidson and Mooresville, are exempt from most of the bill’s restrictions, although their coverage areas would be limited.
Telecom firms such as Time Warner Cable have argued that the municipal broadband networks have an unfair advantage, while the municipalities complain that the commercial providers do not offer high speed service in their areas and the lack hurts business.
Cable and phone companies have launched strong lobbying efforts to restrict municipal broadband efforts in other states. Frequently significant contributors to political candidates and able to mount well-funded lobbying, they have frequently been successful.
The NC bill requires municipalities to hold public hearings on plans to build broadband networks, separate the business from other municipal government services financially, and prohibits offering services below cost. It also requires voter approval in a referendum to borrow money to build the networks. It does exempt cities that can show that more than 50 percent of their households have no access to high-speed Internet access or only have satellite provider access.
Seven of the ten worst cities in NC
Bandwidth.com, which does broadband mapping, shows that seven of the ten U.S. cities with the worst broadband connections at price per Mbps are in North Carolina. They include Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Wilmington, and Charlotte. Columbia, SC, is also on the list. South Carolina is also considering a bill to restrict municipal broadband.
Nationally, 130 communities own wireless broadband networks.
We have reported previously that the fastest and cheapest broadband networks are city run in the south.
A group called the Institute for Local Self-Reliance says that restricting municipal broadband would hurt job creation in NC.
Additional resources:
The municipal broadband battles rages on
Here’s an excellent resource with extensive links on municipal broadband efforts:
Baller Herbst Law Group: Herbst Law
States that have already passed laws limiting municipal broadband:
State Barriers to Community Broadband Services
Wikipedia entry on municipal broadband
Municipal Wireless Snapshot report:
Fast Company: Time Warner’s Antics in Wilson, NC Give another reason to snip the cable
List of municipal broadband network organizations.
An older, but contrary view from the Reason Foundation:
Municipal broadband fails again
Fastest and cheapest US broadband systems are city run in the South
For more on the commercial providers positions:
www.techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=7334
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Tags: Davidson, Gov. Bev Perdue, Mooresville, Morganton, Municipal broadband, NC General Assembly restrict city broadband efforts, Salisbury, seven of ten worst broadband deals in NC cities, Wilson
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, Government/Defense, Internet/New Media, North Carolina, Telecommunications | 1 Comment »
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