WatStart

Zoomii - Bringing book browsing online

justin@embarkonit.com (Justin Cumby) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:36:00 GMT

These days, we're all making a lot of our shopping purchases online. The most significant challenge e-commerce sites face is translating the experience that consumers get in store to a similar one online. With regards to book buying, that's exactly the experience that Zoomii is trying to build.

Chris Thiessen, operator and founder of Zoomii, loves bookstores and would spend afternoons wandering throughout shelves of books, browsing and stumbling upon books he had never even heard of. That's the magic of bookstores that any booklover can identify with. Browsing the hundreds of books, waiting to see what catches your eye and imagination.

The objective of Zoomii is to bring that experience online. Zoomii is a place where users go on and hang out rather than leave an e-commerce site having fulfilling a specific purpose.

The user experience is ver unique. Just like any other bookstore users can select a bookshelf with the genre of book they'd like to browse. They can then scan through the various shelves and check out the different titles available to them. Zoomii boasts an inventory of books from Amazon thanks to their Associates Web Services.

Zoomii already enjoys 350,000 users to date and a monthly average of 10,000 users. For those of you out there who love the traditional book shopping experience, Zoomii is definitely an e-commerce experience for you to check out.

Primal Fusion: Taking thought to a new level

justin@embarkonit.com (Justin Cumby) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:42:00 GMT

Imagine being able to express yourself to a computer in a way that they understand you. Imagine having a computer make your online experience so simple that you are able to complete tasks faster than ever. Seem unimaginable? Not for the team at Primal Fusion.

What the Waterloo startup is accomplishing is having your online experience automated for you by your computer. It's called Thought Networking with the idea of thinking online and acting online. You put in a request to your computer and it will automatically search the expansive database of information online to find you the data you need.

Think about it. There are billions of web pages out there that currently host various types of information. Imagine a student trying to write a term paper. They start out with a topic that leads them to begin researching. This kind of thing can take weeks or even months to find all of the information they need, digest it and put it in a form that they can use to write their paper. What Primal Fusion and their idea of Thought Networking is trying to shorten that experience and have it done for you.

How this works is users shorten the research process by brainstorming with Primal Fusion about the topic: what's needed, desired outcome, outlines, etc. Once that's completed, they will send out “agents” into the Internet that will find the relevant information and digest it for them in minutes, which allow the user to get started with their project faster.

But this isn't just for students. Peter Sweeney, co-founder of Primal Fusion, says, “It's for anyone who has a sustained interest in a topic. For example: house hunters looking for their dream home, a marketer who has to deliver a report or even someone who's looking for the love of their life.” Users simply describe what they're thinking about and how they want it delivered and the system will conform all the relevant data that's out there for them.

Primal Fusion operates with a very talented and experienced management team, thirty-five employees and a research advisory board with talent in the areas of patents and IP strategy, data mining, data visualization, statistical computing, probabilistic databases, query optimizations, information retrieval, knowledge representation, rhetoric, and interaction design.

If Thought Networking seems like something you'd like to try you can register to the private alpha and try it for free. If Primal Fusion seems like an organization you'd like to work for you're in luck as they're always looking for new talent to add to their ranks. Simply check out their careers page for opportunities.

This startup profile has been brought to by by Sun Startup Essentials.

ParkVu launches i2b - your iTunes library on your BlackBerry

gary@garywill.com (Gary Will) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:38:00 GMT

Exactly one year after Jeff Fedor and Terry Goertz started their company, ParkVu has launched its first product.

i2b is a BlackBerry application that gives users mobile access to their iTunes libraries (typically on their home computers) and automatically updates the BlackBerry so that it has all the tracks from selected iTunes playlists, which can include the most played and most recently added playlists.

So, now you can access all of your iTunes library at any time (if your home computer is on—if it isn't, i2b still makes 100 tracks available). And there's no more need for USB cables—tracks can be moved to your BlackBerry through a Wi-Fi connection or through the cellular network. Cost for the service is $2.99 a month.

Full details are available from the ParkVu website.

Open or closed: Choosing the right software model

gary@garywill.com (Gary Will) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:28:00 GMT

Gary Brock at the University of Waterloo has passed along a note about an event on Thursday, April 2 at the Accelerator Centre presented by C4—the Southwestern Ontario technology transfer network that UW belongs to:

We've organized an upcoming half-day event which will explore different models for commercializing software, with a focus on open source. It includes a keynote address by Greg DeKoenigsberg, who is Red Hat's Senior Community Development Manager and one of the leaders of the Fedora project http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview . We also have three Ontario software companies which came out of University research talking about their respective software business models.

Jonas Brandon from StartupNorth and ePresence will also be speaking, as will Maplesoft's Tom Lee and Netsweeper's Perry Roach.

Cost is $20, which includes breakfast.

More details and registration info here.

SR&ED changes unlikely to have much impact on startups

gary@garywill.com (Gary Will) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:10:00 GMT

I read over all the briefings and the new CRA guide, and listened in on a conference call organized by Deloitte, and can't see how the much ballyhooed changes to the SR&ED form will have much of an effect on startups.

My conclusion was that the application form is still a pain in the neck, but no more so now than in previous years.

I've written more on my blog, but "no big woop" is an adequate three-word summary.

HR consulting for startups

gary@garywill.com (Gary Will) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:46:00 GMT

One of the guest speakers at our last get-together was HR consultant Michelle DeBeyer—formerly with RIM and Sybase and now working with startups at the Accelerator Centre.

Her PowerPoint is on the resource page, but I realized it doesn't include any contact information, so I asked Michelle to let everyone know what services she provides and how people can contact her:

Orgtech Consulting Services specializes in providing Human Resource solutions for early-stage technology entrepreneurs. Custom HR solutions are developed for companies who are not ready to have an HR staff or who simply want to outsource the HR function. Specific projects can include:

Recruitment Activities: including Recruitment Strategy, support in Selection & Advertising, and proper procedures and documentation
Performance Management: support setting up policies & procedures, Annual review process set up and review, set up that links performance to compensation and stock option allocation.
Compensation Management: support setting up equitable compensation systems for all employee groups including sales
Policy and Procedure support and documentation.
Management Coaching: Michelle has a great deal of experience coaching and supporting senior technical leaders in the community with difficult management and employee focused decisions. Coaching can be given that can support you in becoming a better manager of people and organizations.
Management Training: Orgtech Consulting Services provides the Human Resources Basics Training Program designed to train leaders in the high tech industry introductory managing people skills.

Michelle DeBeyer has over 10 years experience working as an HR Business partner with local high tech companies including Sybase and Research in Motion. She has a Honours Bachelor of Arts Co-operative degree in Psychology with a minor in Human Resources Studies from the University of Waterloo; has completed The Advanced Program in Human Resources Management from the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Business; was granted her CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) designation from the HRPAO (Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario); and is a Certified Management Trainer (Leadership Fundamentals). As a generalist, she has a wide spectrum of knowledge of HR issues with an expertise in working directly with technology professionals.

Clients include start-up companies such as We-Create Inc., Suited Media, Sparkmatrix, Miovision etc. Please contact Michelle DeBeyer at mdebeyer@rogers.blackberry.net or at 519-404-0096.

JumpStart program provides up to $250K for smartphone app startups

gary@garywill.com (Gary Will) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:13:00 GMT

The JumpStart program from the BlackBerry Partners Fund can provide up to $250,000 to help launch a smartphone application development startup.

The money is provided as a convertible debenture—debt that can be converted into shares if the startup gets to a point where it raises a round of funding.

First step is to fill out an online application form that asks:

What is your business concept?
Who would use your product or technology? Why?
Describe yourself and your qualifications.
Why is your idea unique and better than existing products or technologies in the marketplace?
How do you plan to monetize your business model?

More details at the JumpStart page.

WatStart get-together: Building a great team - Nov. 12

gary@garywill.com (Gary Will) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:01:00 GMT

Our next get-together is a week from tomorrow—Wednesday, November 12, 4-6pm at the Accelerator Centre, Meeting Room 2 (Google Map).

We'll be talking about building a great team—how to find and hire (and fire) people, how to get the most from your team, compensation, and any related topics you want to discuss. It's one of the key challenges that startups face—growing beyond the founding team while maintaining the positive workplace atmosphere you've been able to create.

Guest resources will be:

Ali Asaria, who has put together a great group of folks at Well.ca
Michelle DeBeyer, formerly in HR at RIM and Sybase and now the HR resource at the Accelerator Centre
Suzanne Hyatt, Tech Capital's in-house HR expert, who works with that firm's portfolio companies

Hope to see you there. If you're on our Facebook group, you can sign up there. Otherwise, just show up on the 12th!

Startup Empire - Nov. 13

gary@garywill.com (Gary Will) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:50:00 GMT

StartupEmpire—the startup conference in Toronto—has been rejigged to a one-day event on Thursday, November 13. Cost has been reduced to a more startup-friendly $65. All the details are on the StartupEmpire website.

Deloitte webcast on SR&ED changes - Nov. 18

gary@garywill.com (Gary Will) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:30:00 GMT

Deloitte is running a free webcast on November 18 at 11am on impending changes to the SR&ED program. This link should take you to the registration page, but I don't have a URL for the webcast content. Here's what it said in the e-mail notice:

If you file SR&ED claims or are thinking about it in the future, you need to be aware of significant changes to the program effective January 1, 2009. Please join us in person or via webcast to learn the details.
In November, CRA will be releasing a new T661 form, which will have a significant impact on the SR&ED claim process. The new form will be mandatory and will apply to all taxpayers for fiscal years ending after 2008. This important change will revolutionize the preparation of a technical report and disclosure of financial and technical information in a number of ways:
• No freeform technical reports
• Limited words allowed in each section
• Separate reporting for all projects (including non top 20 projects)
• Separate cost reporting for all projects
• Additional disclosure of the type of SR&ED performed, preparer’s names and documentation available to support the claim
• Other changes that will be discussed in detail at our webcast