Ann Arbor Startup Weekend

Last month, I wasn’t able to tell you very much about Team #4, one of our bigger teams, because they were at a sensitive stage in their process. But they’re now ready to go public, so let me introduce Intermz, a tool that helps you do the closest thing to download information into your brain.

Ted Pin and his team have been hard at work and here’s their latest:

• Intermz.com has scientific proof that their system could help anyone learn twice as fast–and just as accurately.
• The teaser site is up, where visitors can sign up for a newsletter and learn more.
• v2.0 of Intermz.com is set to launch in October with the help of SPARK’s Business Accelerator.
• Ted is writing a blog series called “Being a founder” that is a play-by-play on how they’re building Intermz.com from the ground up.

As I’ve said, we had a wonderful weekend. So much energy, so much talent.

On Sunday night, we got everyone together and each group did a presentation. I’m going to list the groups here, some of them by team number only, because they aren’t quite ready to go public. I’ll be posting updates as I get information from these teams in the upcoming weeks.

We numbered the teams for practicality’s sake, but it was a totally random process. So here they are in team number order (Team 7 folded):

Team #1 - TagRoad

TagRoad’s product is called Vagabondoo - “a million local experts in your pocket.” It’s a GPS enabled iPhone 3G application, with accompanying website. The idea is that users can tell stories about the places they’ve visited and can read other user’s stories to help them find someplace new to visit, using GPS to create a map of interesting spots near their actual location. Vagabondoo is in private beta.

Team #2 - Exploded View

Exploded View is a not-for-profit project exploring how to take apart and catalog old components and machines so that users can determine if there are valuable, reusable and/or recyclable parts inside. They will be creating a visual database which will be populated and annotated by users. Exploded View is in beta.

Team #3 - The Brand YU Life

Brand YU Life is a personal branding project and will be rolled out at a later date.

Team #4

Team #4 came to SWA2 with an idea and company already formed. They came along to network and get some feedback on their ideas. The product they’re working on will be rolled out in coming months and is under wraps right now.

Team #5 - Global Invention Solutions and Services

Team #5 is working to launch a large-scale R&D center here in Michigan. They enjoyed the weekend and made good contacts and connections.

Team #6

Team #6 is working on enterprise database optimization tools, with a multi-faceted approach to increasing database efficiency and performance. They are in beta and will be signing formal organizational paperwork in upcoming weeks.

Team #8

Team #8 is planning to create a site where customers can create custom handbags by specifying shapes, colors, trims and so on. They are in a research phase and will be exploring the ideas generated at SWA2.

Team #9 - Nudge

Nudge is a text message appointment-reminder service for small business. Small businesses will be able to send reminders via text message so that their clients/customers don’t miss their appointments. Nudge will provide a low-cost, easy to use system to help mitigate revenue loss due to missed appointments. Nudge has launched in a private beta and will be completing their corporate organizational paperwork this week.

Team #10

Team #10 is almost ready to launch and wants to keep things under the radar for a few more weeks. They came to SWA2 with an already formed idea and used the weekend to flesh out many aspects of the project and prepare for launch.

Team #11 - Magnetic Devices

Team #11 is in a research phase, looking at how magnets can be used in artificial joints.

Team #12 - Market Monitor

Market Monitor is a tool for consultants, designers, and other service providers whose customers want to optimize their website ranking on major search engines based on keyword analytics. It is an affordable but robust tool which produces real-time reports. Market Monitor is in beta.

Team #13 - Storybridge & Jade

Storybridge aims to connect readers with short stories and other literature that they would like to read, based on recommendations. Jade is a companion system to Storybridge, and will allow for the aggregation of micro-payments to authors of short works. Team #13 plans to launch Storybridge in an alpha release in October, and to launch Jade in September.

That was fantastic. Out of this world. I will make a more formal summary post in the morning, but for the moment let me sum up: 34 pitches morphed into 11 companies. Eleven! Some are more fully formed than others (for example, one is still doing research, another is signing S-corp papers this week, etc.), but they all had a great time.

When McKinley originally donated that huge space to us, I was a bit worried that we’d feel a little lost in a cavernous 28 thousand square feet. But I tell you, the energy and drive and excitement from this group of people was enough to fill twice that. I am so grateful to have been a part of such an amazing gathering of talent and dedication. Thank you all.

It’s Sunday, we’re down to the last 5 hours and everyone here is super-serious. We are so close to launch for several teams, including this one. They’ve pulled together an app that touches on a couple of the latest hot tech memes, and they’re doing it with a great sense of style and humor.

It’s interesting to listen to these late stage discussions - it sounds a bit like the early stage discussion, but more focused. Instead of a world of possibilities, now it’s decisions being made between two final contending ideas or directions.

I don’t think I’ve heard any outright arguments this weekend. Spirited discussions, sure - but everyone has brought their A-game and a great deal of respect for everyone on all the teams. The atmosphere here is positive and hard working and to be honest, I’m pretty blown away by it all.

I’m sitting here with one of the bigger teams - 13 in this super dynamic group. We’re down to the wire here Sunday morning, and they are looking like they will be ready to launch today. (Woo!) I’ve got coders to the left of me, marketers to the right and I’m watching some content creators and strategizers across the table. Right now, they seem to be putting together team member profiles for the site and planning some attention-getting ways to roll out their idea. This is really hard to write about without giving away their idea - I want all of you following along here to enjoy the big surprise when they launch today.

I must admit that I do not understand large scale database computing technologies - but hot damn, we’ve got a team here working on them. Right now, they’re talking about things I do understand though, at least in the abstract: funding. They’re brainstorming some ways to raise money and continue to make money as they go forward. These guys are talking about big dollar numbers, but all of the teams here have to answer this same question. How do we get the money we need to make this all happen?

They’ve just taken a break - the chocolate fountain (!) is calling. But before that, I’ve been listening in and they are moving forward with strategies. The current topic of conversation is user experience. They’re realizing that they can only do so much in that regard over the weekend, given that there are only so many test subjects available right at hand. They found one, though - and are walking through some real world examples with her. The team is coming up with some great examples on the fly - these people are definitely going to be able to take this idea out to the public. It’s very cool.

I’m talking to the personal branding site team. They have got a great plan pulled together with a lot of detail on the pieces they need, but they’re in need of developers. If you’re interested in helping out, leave a comment here.

I’m in with the the MacGyver team now. They have the best toys in here - they’ve got an old Apple external cd drive, shavers, antennas, solar lights and are taking them apart. They’re working through the process of creating how to’s, and discussing what the scope of their new site should be. I’m not sure how far they hope to get, but the discussion is excellent and focused.

I’m sitting at the table with the Team #4 - which has collected up a few of the smaller groups. We’ve got one person working hard with a drawing tablet, creating a prototype of a three-dimensional portrait. It is very cool. But there’s also random talk of sci-fi and characters - we’re all having a good time and making new friends. It’s a good group and they’re pulling together some new identity materials and pitches for investors after the weekend.