Innovation & Job News

Barracuda Networks seeks 10 new staffers for Ann Arbor office

Concentrate Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Barracuda Networks' goal is to employ 185 people at its Ann Arbor office by 2013. A year ahead of schedule, the California-based firm is just about halfway there.

As the result of a deal the company made with the state in 2008 to create nearly 200 Internet-based jobs for a $1.4 million tax credit, today it employs about 90 people in Ann Arbor. With 10 job openings to fill, the company is hosting a career fair on Thursday at its offices on the near north side of Ann Arbor.

"We're hiring at least a person a week right now," says Sean Heiney, director of new product initiatives at Barracuda Networks. "We've had very aggressive growth year after year. We have to find the best talent, and Ann Arbor has turned into a major R&D center for us."

Barracuda Networks creates e-mail and Internet security applications. The research and development of those products is done in its Ann Arbor office, which is nearly full. The company is looking for fresh graduates with computer science degrees or web software developers, quality assurance engineers, IT staff, and tech support and sales staff. For information on the job openings, click here.

Source: Sean Heiney, director of new product initiatives at Barracuda Networks
Writer: Jon Zemke

Grand River to create 48 new jobs from $1.1M investment

Concentrate Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Grand River plans to make a grand investment in the Ann Arbor area and create dozens of new high-tech jobs over the next few years, thanks to a new state tax credit.

The Ann Arbor-based e-commerce start-up announced a deal with the Michigan Economic Development Corp on Tuesday to invest $1.1 million in its expansion over the next five years. That is expected to lead to 48 new jobs over that time period, which should mean about 7-10 new openings each year.

"We're self-funded," says Scott Robertson, managing partner with Grand River. "The growth is coming from reinvesting the profits into developing our client base."

The 2-year-old firm focuses on the development of open-source e-commerce solutions for mid-market retailers, meaning it designs, develops, and maintains the websites for the likes of Gander Mountain, HoMedics, and the La Jolla Group.

Grand River started with two people and has now grown to 12 staffers, two independent contractors, and an intern. It has made seven hires over the last year and continues to grow with the help of a small business administration loan, a new revolving line of credit, and a reputation that pays dividends.

"We did little marketing," Robertson says. "We really have excellent word of mouth from our existing clients."

Grand River looked at expanding in both Ann Arbor and Chicago. It worked with both Ann Arbor SPARK and state officials from the MEDC to land the $361,376 state tax break.

"They both did a very good job of helping us understand the benefits of growing here in Ann Arbor," Robertson says.

Source: Scott Robertson, managing partner with Grand River
Writer: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor's MyBandStock lands first client, raises seed funding

Concentrate Wednesday, June 16, 2010

A little more than a year into its life, and MyBandStock is getting its footing in the music scene, landing its first customer and some seed capital.

The Ann Arbor-based start-up that focuses on connecting bands to their fans now counts the After Midnight Project, which is signed to Universal Motown, as a client. MyBandStock will let fans buy "shares of stock" in the band through purchasing tickets and merchandise. Those shares can be used to gain insider access to the band.

"Anyone who buys a t-shirt or a record gets a tag for 100 shares of stock to the band," says Drew Leahy, founder of MyBandStock. "They can take that stock and use it to view exclusive video."

The top 10 shareholders will be eligible to do a video chat with the band at the end of the Warped Tour this summer, in which the After Midnight Project is taking part. It's part of the firm's new business model of connecting underground artists and fans via digital access. User demand dictates which bands will be featured.

MyBandStock has raised seed capital from angel investors, which is enough to hire six employees through the rest of the year. It hopes to sign another 5-10 artists by the end of 2010.

Source: Drew Leahy, founder of MyBandStock
Writer: Jon Zemke

PitchCorner.com hopes to become online destination for start-up auditions

Concentrate Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Every entrepreneur wants their start-up to become the next big thing. PitchCorner.com wants to become the place where the next big thing, and a lot of smaller ones, are found.

The Ann Arbor-based website provides a space for entrepreneurs to post a video of their elevator pitch, a short speech meant to capture the interest of an investor or customer. The idea is to help them fine tune their pitches and give investors a clearing house to see what is out there.

"You learn so much by seeing somebody or hearing their conviction," says Rick Galdi, co-founder of PitchMedia, which owns PitchCorner.com. "You get much more from it than what you would learn by reading a piece of paper."

Galdi would know. He is one of Michigan's most prominent angel investors and president of the Great Lakes Angels. He and Mike Brennan decided to make a go of it with PitchCorner.com last year. It has since debuted at the 10th Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship in Ann Arbor in January.

"Being able to pitch the company is something any entrepreneur should be able to do," Galdi says. "If you're not ready to do it in person or on camera then you're probably not ready."

The four-person start-up lets anyone surf the site. Those who want to post their pitches can do so for a $9.95 monthly fee. That will also allow them to post their logo and an executive summary of their business or product. The idea is to offer a cost-effective resource for start-ups where every dollar not only counts but needs to be stretched.

"It's gaining momentum slowly," Galdi says. "I didn't expect it to explode overnight because it's such a new idea. I had to temper my expectations a bit."

Source: Rick Galdi, co-founder of PitchCorner.com
Writer: Jon Zemke

Borders launches Kobo eReader to compete with Kindle

Concentrate Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Meet the Kobo, the latest electronic book reader, the new flagship product from Borders and, if the chatter is to be believed, a Kindle Killer. Those aren't our words or from public relations personnel at the Ann Arbor-based book seller. That's how "Wired" magazine described the new gizmo because of its features and low price.

"Kobo is so far the best and most comprehensive service we have used to buy and read books, especially for non-U.S. residents," the "Wired" review states. "It is still flawed, and it is a royal pain that Kindle won't support EPUB books. But with its platform-agnostic approach, huge catalog and new heavyweight partners, we expect to see Kobo grow fast."

The Kindle is seen as the benchmark for the emerging electronic publishing market, but that might change because of the Kobo. The eReading device offers a stylized, easy-to-use, eInk based reader. It also comes preloaded with 100 classic books.

It sells books through the upcoming Borders eBook store, which will feature over a million titles. It will also come with free Borders smart phone applications available for the iPhone, Blackberry and Android, as well as the iPad and all PCs. This across-the-board flexibility is seen as one of Kobo's biggest attributes in a market where a dominant leader has been far from defined, unlike what Apple has done to music with the iPod.

"We wanted to make sure we emerged with a technology agnostic eReader with a rich amount of content," says Mary Davis, spokeswoman for Borders. She adds that Borders will offer the Kobo and 4-10 other eReaders at many of its retail locations.

This latest initiative comes at a critical time for Borders, which has been fighting to stay relevant in an industry that is being upended by the Internet and other technological advances. Becoming a leader in the eBook market would allow Borders to reassert itself as one of the primary leaders in the literary sales world.

Source: Mary Davis, spokeswoman for Borders
Writer: Jon Zemke

A2Fiber initiative moves forward, selects video winner

Concentrate Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Just because the Google Fiber application is in doesn't mean the A2Fiber team can go home. The combination of officials from the city of Ann Arbor and University of Michigan are still working both on the public stage and behind the scenes to make it to the next round of the selection process.

"We'd like to have an ongoing public conversation," says Tom Crawford, CFO for the city of Ann Arbor and the project manager for A2Fiber. "We're still very excited about this."

The latest part of that public conversation is the recent announcement of the A2Fiber's YouTube contest winner. Jeff Hayner won a 32 Gig Apple iPad for producing a 1:42 short film staring Lego characters extolling the virtues of what Google's Fiber community project could do for Ann Arbor and what Ann Arbor can do for it.

Google plans to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of communities across the country. These lines will stream data at 1 gigabit per second, about 100 times faster than most Americans get through their current cable and DSL providers.

A number of communities across Metro Detroit followed Ann Arbor's lead and made an application, including Royal Oak, Birmingham, Rochester and Detroit, among others. Ann Arbor's application included a large public rally, a Facebook fan page and the YouTube contest. Local officials are still brainstorming ways to keep its momentum going this spring, summer and until Google makes an announcement about the contest.

Local officials are also working behind the scenes to streamline the city's bureaucracy to fit the Google Fiber project. That includes everything from reforming the city's permit process, right-of-way and other city policies that could potentially impact the project.

"It's just the inner workings of government and the permit process we're going through," Crawford says.

Source: Tom Crawford, CFO for the city of Ann Arbor and the project manager for A2Fiber
Writer: Jon Zemke

Want to see Google pitch videos from other communities around the country? Here are a few of the best...

Bellingham, Washington

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=nA5AAxW7gAk&feature=related

Peoria, Illinois

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Z-MDFizlX4g&feature=related

Duluth, Minnesota

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=G2i_piWVXuc&feature=related

Memphis, Tenn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHqENIa2xkY

Cincinnati, OH

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Q5PXWcK-cpc&feature=related

Orlando, Fla

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3AZAcOz7y0

Arbor Teas goes green, expands staff to 6 people

Concentrate Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Ann Arbor residents Aubrey and Jeremy Lopatin wanted to start a business to go with their day jobs a little more than six years ago. Today they have a sustainable, web-based start-up that revolves around tea called Arbor Teas.

"We initially wanted to open a caf� but we didn't have the capital for that," says Aubrey Lopatin. "So we looked at what other options were out there. We both love tea and food. It was a natural match."

The Ann Arbor-based firm sells different sorts of exotic teas from its website around the world. Today about 85-90 percent of the company's customers are from outside of Michigan. It has allowed Aubrey Lopatin to make this her full-time profession (Jeremy is still an analyst with Pure Visibility) and now have a staff of four people and an intern. It hopes to hire again in the near future.

One of its latest innovations is coming out with a sustainable packing that is compostable. That means users can take the tea bags, leaves and packing and put it in their compost pile in their own backyard. That goes with its ethos of delivering organic, free-trade teas in the most sustainable way possible.

"That's our niche and our way to move forward," Lopatin says.

Source: Aubrey Lopatin, co-owner of Arbor Teas
Writer: Jon Zemke

VC Web Design graduates from SPARK East, hires 5 in Ypsilanti

Concentrate Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Meet VC Web Design, the first graduate of Ann Arbor SPARK's East Incubator in downtown Ypsilanti.

The web design firm was one of the first tenants in the business incubator when it opened last spring. Then it was a two-person start-up looking for a little direction. Today it employs seven people and intern and is moving into its own commercial space a few doors down from the incubator in downtown Ypsilanti on Washington Street.

"We wanted to be around people in a downtown area," says Vince Chmielewski, president of VC Wed Design. "We couldn't fit at SPARK anymore because we kept adding people. Plus, we wanted our own storefront for higher visibility."

Chmielewski caught the entrepreneurial bug when he was attending the University of Michigan in the mid 1990s. The computer science major always ended up as a go-to resource among friend interested in creating websites, which turned into a nice stream of cash on the side.

"People would ask me questions and I would sell websites to them," Chmielewski says.

It has remained a nice side income for him ever since. He still maintains his full-time job at U-M but is also now putting 40 hours a week into VC Web Design. How long he can keep that up is a little in question. VC Web Design is set to more than double its revenue this year and Chmielewski expects to add another person or two this year.

Good thing he has the SPARK East incubator degree and some new space to accommodate all of that growth.

Source: Vince Chmielewski, president of VC Wed Design
Writer: Jon Zemke

Tonic purchases U-M student-designed app DoGood

Concentrate Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The DoGood iPhone application is doing more than a little bit of good for the University of Michigan students who designed it last year.

The catchy app has been acquired by Silicon Valley-based Tonic, creating a profitable exit for the handful of studentpreneurs that created it at the university's new Web App Class last summer. Those students created the app under the Mobil33t start-up banner last year, but have since move onto new projects since then.

"DoGood got really, really popular," says Jason Bornhorst, one of the co-founders of Mobil33t who is now a part-owner with Ann Arbor-based start-up Mobiata. "It became a full-time job for us over the last summer."

About 70,000 people use DoGood today to get their daily dose of virtuous deed suggestions. The free app's suggestions include things like don't criticize today or give someone a second chance today. They are formulated by a community of university students who call their group Do Random Acts of Kindness.

Tonic plans to keep the same group to provide the suggestions. The student creators are also working with Tonic on the future development of the app, expanding into other smartphone platforms and perhaps even growing into its own website. The students also have their own entrepreneurial ventures cooking they expect to put forward later this year.

"Stay tuned," Bornhorst says. "We have some really interesting stuff in the pipeline. I can't talk about it right now."

Source: Jason Bornhorst, co-founder of Mobil33t and co-creator of DoGood
Writer: Jon Zemke

SRT Solutions hires 2, looks to add 1-2 more

Concentrate Wednesday, April 21, 2010

SRT Solutions is continuing its slow-yet-steady march toward growth in downtown Ann Arbor.

The software firm has recently added a couple more engineers, allowing it to keep its staff at 18 people. That number includes an intern and independent contractor, and is the same size as it was when we last checked in late in 2008. It hopes to hire another person or two later this year.

"We're continuing with a slower growth," says Bill Wagner, co-founder of SRT Solutions. "We're buying into new technologies and services we think our customers will need in the next few years."

The 10-year-old company helps businesses get software projects done on time and right the first time. Its products range from custom technology analysis, proof of concept development and software development. It's also moving into things like cloud computing and facilitating more natural use interfaces for software.

Source: Bill Wagner, co-founder of SRT Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke

OnlyMyEmail adds staff in downtown Ypsilanti

Concentrate Wednesday, April 07, 2010

The people behind the OnlyMyEmail didn't start their company as the first step of building an empire. They want to solve a problem � email spam.

Necessity, the mother of invention, forced the three co-founders to come up with a better mousetrap for spam email. Today the company of less than 20 people (it recently hired one more person) in downtown Ypsilanti is positioning itself to keep up with the numerous forms of email spam and so it could potentially be acquired by a future partner corporation.

"We don't really have anything else that we need to innovate or do beside keep ahead of the daily onslaught of spam," says Stephen Canale, co-founder of OnlyMyEmail.

The company's software has 31 separate layers of protection for every form of spam, such as zombie, malware and corporate marketing. Of those numerous layers, six of them are there to make sure the important messages people want to read make it through all of that protection.

OnlyMyEmail is rolling out an archive system. It has also grown to the point where the company runs the email systems for its customers that just don't want to put up with the headache of managing all of those messages.

"There is no magic bullet," Canale says. "It's a very complicated problem."

Source: Stephen Canale, co-founder of OnlyMyEmail
Writer: Jon Zemke

Pure Visibility adds 2 people in Ann Arbor

Concentrate Wednesday, April 07, 2010

The leadership behind Pure Visibility knows the economy is turning a corner because the firm is already peaking around it.

The downtown Ann Arbor-based firm, which shares the stately First National Building with other new economy companies like LLamasoft, has hired four people over the last year, expanding its staff to 14 people. It is gearing up for even more business and few more hires in 2010.

"There is something shifting right now," says Catherine Juon, co-founder and catalyst for Pure Visibility. "Larger companies are realizing that they need more than their own marketing departments if they want to grow today."

The search-engine-optimization firm specializes in helping its clients attract more traffic by priming their websites so they can be found in things like Google searches. The firm is analytics-certified by Google, which is not a designation that is easily achieved.

Juon points out that most of the firms that are upping business with Pure Visibility are those that deal with high-value sales that occur over a long-term cycle. That has prompted Pure Visibility to become more aggressive when it comes to attracting business.

"For the firs time in our five years we're proactively going after sales," Juon says. "Up until now we have been picking up the phone."

Source: Catherine Juon, co-founder and catalyst for Pure Visibility
Writer: Jon Zemke

Google Fiber means 2 things to Ann Arbor: Choice, opportunity

Concentrate Wednesday, March 24, 2010

When Steve Pierce thinks about what Google's Fiber community would mean for Ann Arbor or Saline/Pittsfield Township he weighs the long-term impact. The co-founder of Wireless Ypsi and expert of just about all things Internet sees the Google pilot program providing two things most people aren't talking about: Opportunity and choice.

Choice, as in competition between Internet service providers, who will be forced to provide better service at an even better price. Opportunity, as in the economic opportunities this will provide for Washtenaw County.

"That connection provides opportunity for entrepreneurs whether it�s a start-up or a big company," says Pierce, who lives in downtown Ypsilanti and runs his business from his laptop. "Bandwidth is king. No matter how fast your connection is you could always use more."

Google plans to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of communities across the country. These lines will stream data at 1 gigabit per second, about 100 times faster than most Americans get through their current cable and DSL providers.

Ann Arbor got on the bandwagon quickly, launching A2Fiber, a Facebook fan page, a YouTube contest and other online efforts to rally support for its application. The University of Michigan and Ypsilanti are backing Ann Arbor's effort. Saline and Pittsfield Township are filing a competing joint application. As for the local media's talk of competition between the two applications, Pierce thinks its irrelevant.

"It doesn't matter who the heck wins," Pierce says. "We just need to get this to the county. We need to get past the first round so the Google people will come here and check us out."

Pierce believes that Google is looking for a community of about 250,000 people, meaning it wouldn't just be Ann Arbor or Saline/Pittsfield Township alone. It would probably be Ann Arbor and the surrounding area, such as the city, the adjacent townships and probably some nearby towns.

That would actually play to Washtenaw County's favor because the general Ann Arbor area features both urban, suburban and rural settings for Google to test. Local municipalities also have an educated population and business community with an almost unquenchable demand for Internet. But even if Google just choose to set up the project in downtown Ann Arbor, the economic ripple affects would be felt for miles away.

"It's still going to help Ypsilanti because it's going to attract more people to the community," Pierce says. "Where are they going to live? Some are going to live in Ypsilanti. Some are going to shop and eat in Ypsilanti. It's going to be huge for the community if we can land these guys here."

Source: Steve Pierce, co-founder of Wireless Ypsi.
Writer: Jon Zemke

Ethics of entrepreneurship, Q&A with Chris Hall

Concentrate Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Business and job growth are seen as paramount when it comes to the local economy, but where does developing a local set of business ethics for all of this new commercial activity fit in? Chris Hall has an idea or two about that and plans to make them public at Eastern Michigan University's Ethos Week today.

The president of RepairClinic.com, online appliance parts retailer, will speak about "Ethics and Entrepreneurship" at 5:30 p.m. in Room 114 at the EMU's College of Business. The former appliance repairman will elaborate on the ethical challenges facing today's entrepreneurs as they navigate a tough economy, while sharing his own experience as an entrepreneur for the last decade.

Hall recently answered some ethics questions for Concentrate via email. Think of it as a taste test of what you can expect to hear from him this evening.

The Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area has a developing entrepreneurial ecosystem that is seen as crucial to the development of Michigan's new economy. What ethical issues will or should this ecosystem confront as it develops?

As we move further from our manufacturing roots in Michigan, and more into a service economy, I believe we need to relearn what it means to serve others - whether customers or employees. We, as a nation, have become too self-absorbed. Too often we put business interests ahead of the people those businesses are supposed to serve.

The line between university research and spinning off that technology for commercial purposes is not always clear. What ethical pitfalls should the local academia and entrepreneurial communities be in the new economy wary of while developing this relationship?

Michigan has a rare and unique opportunity. We have a strong manufacturing and technology base in our universities and businesses. And, we know that auto manufacturing isn't going to support Michigan single-handedly in the future. I believe we can become the leader in green technology. To do that, universities and businesses are going to have to share more of their research with each other. As a nation, we're leaning more toward protectionism. As a state, I believe we need to do the opposite. There are many entrepreneurs that would be able to move some of the green technology forward if they were given the chance.

When it comes to ethics and entrepreneurs, where should Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti look for guidance?

In our own backyard there are two large companies that I believe have been exceptional models of ethical leadership - Ford and Whirlpool. While they haven't been perfect, overall they have set a good example of how to do the right thing by their customers and their employees. On a smaller scale, Zingerman's in Ann Arbor sets a great example of how to do the right thing.

Name one thing would you change about the local business area when it comes to business ethics?

I would love to see the local communities get together and develop a code of ethics. Then, have local businesses opt in to be randomly audited for compliance to that code of ethics. Finally, build a website where local residents could check out the rankings of a business, and submit complaints for resolution. Kind of like the BBB but with a better resolution process and more transparency in the rankings.

Source: Chris Hall, president of RepairClinic.com
Writer: Jon Zemke

Hook adds 4 people in downtown Ann Arbor, plans more hires

Concentrate Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Hook is growing in just about every way imaginable. The downtown Ann Arbor-based firm is adding people, clients and office space as it starts to assert itself in the city's growing service-based economy.

"We've been lucky," says Aaron Schwartz, co-founder of Hook. "We have some great clients who keep coming back to us. There is a great demand for our services right now."

That means the commercial-art start-up has expanded its payroll to 10 people by adding four new employees since the last time we checked in with it in late 2008. It has also quadrupled its office space to 2,500 square feet.

The 4-year-old firm has also grown its client base and moved itself up the advertising food chain. It has gone from producing auto show materials to moving onto a broader range of interactive advertising. Think: Building micro sites and taking over Internet homepages.

The refocusing has allowed the firm to plan for even more growth. It hopes to hire three more people this year and take over some more of its space in its second-floor commercial space in downtown Ann Arbor.

"We hope to continue growing," Schwartz says. "We get new business every other day. We hope to add more people."

Hook got its start when two former University of Michigan students, Schwartz and Michael Watts, decided to take the entrepreneurial leap. Some of its first work incorporated 3-D imagery into commercial art, such as animation and illustrations. One of the firm's first clients included part of Toyota's North American International Auto Show display in Detroit.

Source: Aaron Schwartz, co-founder of Hook
Writer: Jon Zemke

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