5 Simple Rules for Social Media

Social media is a great marketing tool that startups can use to build a following and interact with potential customers. From Facebook to Twitter and over to Instagram and Foursquare, here are a couple of simple etiquette rules to follow for your social media use. 1: Social Media is a Conversation not a Megaphone.

The best way to use social media is to engage with your customers.  The reason it is “social” is because it should be a two-way conversation not a megaphone.  Make sure to provide useful information and respond to your followers with comments, likes, re-tweets, and posts.  Build relationship online the same way you would in real life.

2: Keep Your Account Active.

Social media requires continuous updates and interactions.  You need to keep your content fresh.  This means posting new pictures, articles, or information at least a couple of time per week.  If you have great content it is ok to repost it a few times, but make sure to leave ample time (a week of so) between re-posts of the same content.

3: Post Wisely

If you post too frequently and flood your followers with content they will quickly block everything you say.  Make sure that you post enough to stay relevant but don’t post more that 3 or 5 times per day unless you are having direct interactions with your followers.

4: Posts Live Forever.

Make sure that everything you post is something you are comfortable showing your customers, boss, colleges, and friends for years to come. Even if a post is deleted it is likely that someone saw it and will remember what you said.

5: Visuals Rule.

The best social media posts are visual.  Statistics are good, articles are better, and conversations trump both.  However, people are visual creatures and you will get better response when you post images that your followers find useful and can understand.

About the Author

Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the Cofounder of Snapifeye. Steve has a masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend.

2014 Mentor Wish List

For 2014 one of Startup Milwaukee’s goals is to accelerate the growing startup community in Wisconsin.  One of the best ways that already established companies can help boost our startup eco-system is to provide mentors.  Your company can benefit from providing mentors to local startups.  These benefits include: 1)   Exclusive access to new ideas and technology.

2)   Inside knowledge of innovative Milwaukee companies.

3)   Personal development for you staff.

1. Cultivate leadership skills.
2. Encourage the entrepreneurial mindset.

4)   Social recognition to greater Milwaukee community.

1. Public relations opportunities.
2. Sponsorship opportunities.

5)   Access to potential new customers.

6)   Give back to the community.

The ability to act as a mentor will benefit your employees and our state as a whole.  In order to make lasting economic growth in Wisconsin we must foster an environment where innovation thrives.  Consider providing a mentor for one of the areas listed below in 2014.  To be part of the mentorship program in 2014 please e-mail Tim Grove at: Tim@startupmke.org

Startup Milwaukee Mentor Wish List
Law
	Intellectual Property
	Incorporation
	Contract
Business Development
	Customer Validation
	Strategic Partnerships
	Lead Generation
	Negotiation
	SEO/SEM
	Lean Startup
Design
	User Experience
	General Design
	Creative Direction
HR
	Hiring Decisions
	Insurance
	Benefits
	Management
Funding
	Pitching
	Financial Models
Selling
	B2B
	B2C

About the Author

Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the CEO of Snapifeye. Steve has a masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend.

Pairdd is Hiring

Are you a coding wizard? Do you want to work with a fun Milwaukee Startup?! Look no further:

Pairdd is looking for a coder/developer to help out with site changes!

Pairdd is a new local startup working to make cooking gluten free easier. We send all the measured ingredients needed to cook a great gluten free meal to the homes of many – And they are growing which means that we are looking to add to our team!

Applicants should have experience in the following areas:

Pairdd is looking for a coder to help work within Shopify on front end styling and UX/UI design. Preferably applicants will also have experience in back end development.

Languages Required:

• HTML

• CSS

• PHP is a plus

Bonus Skills (not required)

• Photoshop

• UX/UI

• Experience with design

• Experience working with an ecommerce site

Time Requirements

Pairdd is looking to find a coding rockstar for contract work on an as needed basis ASAP.

Think you have what it takes?

APPLY - send your resume and past work to letseat@pairdd.com

Pairdd is a product of Blue Bananas LLC, a local startup incubator funded by Assurant Health. Blue Bananas is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All aspects of consideration for employment and employment with the Company are governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law.

Pitch your startup to corporations at OnRamp!

In an effort to increase connections between Wisconsin’s start-ups and established corporations, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and gener8tor are launching an event (OnRamp) that will give young companies the opportunity to pitch their products and services to established corporations. Startups wishing to participate in the event are encouraged to apply through the program's f6s portal.

The inaugural OnRamp event will be held Friday, December 6, 2013 at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headquarters. The event is intended to help startups in the critical effort to find sales channels and to provide a way for established companies to engage with the entrepreneurial community. It highlights the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and gener8tor’s commitment to helping Wisconsin’s emerging entrepreneurs succeed.

Participating corporations include the Milwaukee Bucks, American Family Insurance, Assurant Health, Granite Microsystems, Menasha Corporation, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Nordic Consulting.

Startups wishing to apply are encouraged to research each of the participating corporations to better understand which corporations they would like to pitch. Each participating corporation will receive those startup applications that requested to pitch to them and those whose applications indicate a potential customer opportunity. Participating corporations will then choose 4-6 startups to pitch them at the event.

Those startups selected to pitch at the event will be notified on 12/4 and 12/5 and offered a time slot to pitch at the 12/6 event. Because of the short turn-around time, we ask that each startup be prepared to pitch any of the participating corporations on 24-48 hours notice. Selected startups are requested to arrive at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Headquarters at 333 W. State St. at least 30 minutes before their scheduled pitch.  No technology will be available at the event. Startups are encouraged to bring brief handouts of powerpoint presentations or sales collateral to aid in their presentation. Startup pitches will last 15 minutes with 10 minutes available for Q&A. 

To prepare for the event, gener8tor and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel are hosting a Meetup at the Milwaukee Ale House at 5:30 pm on 12/5. The Meetup will feature the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Marty Kaiser (editor-in-chief), Betsy Brenner (president and publisher), and George Stanley (managing editor) in addition to the gener8tor founding team. Startups wishing to learn more about the OnRamp Wisconsin event are encouraged to attend and ask any questions. 

At the conclusion of the OnRamp Wisconsin event, participating corporations will select one startup to either purchase from or mentor (at least two lunches/coffees). Organizers will notify each selected startup with appropriate follow-up steps.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and gener8tor are grateful to each of the participating corporations, volunteers and supporting partners including StartupMKE, Digital Fertilizer, and Capital Entrepreneurs. 

Anyone with additional questions or follow-up is encouraged to contact Joe@gener8tor.com.

gener8tor Winter 2014 Application Deadline

The application deadline for gener8tor's Winter 2014 accelerator program in Madison is Monday, December 1st.

gener8tor invests its community, capital, expertise, mentorship and network in capable, early-stage entrepreneurs with innovative business models. gener8tor works with the startups in its portfolio to create successful, scalable companies.

gener8tor is seeking to invest in technology-enabled businesses, including software, IT, web, SaaS and hardware. Accepted companies receive $70,000 and 12-weeks of mentorship-driven programming. gener8tor is a proud member of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) and is sponsored by American Family Insurance.

If you or anyone you know is interested in applying gener8tor, check out gener8tor's website and application page on f6s by December 1, 2013.

Please email Joe@gener8tor.com with any questions.

Does Your Business Have Innovation?

According to Eric Ries of the Lean Startup the difference between a small business and a startup is innovation.  A small business executes on an existing model and a startup creates a new one.  So what is innovation? “Innovation is the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, inarticulated needs, or existing market needs.” – Wikipedia

A new restaurant can be innovative in it is marketing or styling’s.  A cheese company might age their cheese a bit differently than its competitors. It might do things in a distinctive way that is innovative. However, compared to Facebook it seems these businesses are a bit less innovative.  Restaurants and cheese have been part of the human fabric  for hundreds of years and Facebook has been around about ten.

So what is innovation and does your business have it?  This question is based on a false premise.  It is not a question about the existence of innovation, rather the questions is about the degree. We should be asking, “How much innovation does you business have?” or  ”How can your business be more innovative in its space?”

In general there are two kids of innovation, disruptive innovation and incremental innovation.  Incremental innovation is the improvement of an existing system.  It is an innovative way to make something that exists better.  Disruptive innovation is a new system that completely replaces an old one.  Stay tuned for to find out more about the differences between incremental innovations and disruptive innovation in a future blog post.

About the Author Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the CEO of Snapifeye.  In addition, he is the Founder of Laylines Consulting and previously worked at a San Francisco based consulting company.  Steve has a masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business and was the winner of Startup Weekend Madison

Strengthening Wisconsin's Entrepreneurial Community

Tuesday night Startup Milwaukee has partnered with fellow entrepreneur-led organizations 100state, Capital Entrepreneurs, Digital Fertilizer and gener8tor to brainstorm solutions that strengthen Wisconsin's entrepreneurial community. Wisconsin continues to lag the country in many of the key measures of entrepreneurial activity, but entrepreneurs from around the state are determined to reverse these trends.

So Tuesday night at 96square join 150+ entrepreneurs from Madison, Milwaukee and Northeast Wisconsin as we brainstorm practical ideas to strengthen and support Wisconsin's entrepreneurial community, RSVP here.

Create Your Winning Press Kit

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools you can create a press kit that will help you attract the attention of local media outlets.  (This is part 3 of a 3 part series. If haven’t already, start with Part 1: The Media List and Part 2: The Press Release.)

The press kit provides additional support for your media campaign. Typically you send a press kit to follow up if a journalist is interested in your story. Every press kit is a bit different. However, there are a number of standard documents you should include. You can be creative with the press kit and include more than what is listed here.

FAQ:  People are likely to have additional questions about you and your product. Provide answers to those questions here. Include relevant details that were not critical to your press release.

Bios: Provide background information about your core team in this document. This is similar to a resume--however, it is written out. Start with most recent items and work your way backwards. This should be fairly straight forward.

Fact Sheet: The fact sheet is a bulleted list of all the important information contained in your press release and press kit. Think of this as an outline of your press release and press kit.

Company Background: Write about your company's background and history. You can talk about previous accomplishments and important events.

Picture: Include a picture of you or your product. Make sure it is relevant to the story.

Now that you have a great media list, a compelling press release and an awesome press kit, it's time to find your business some exposure. Send your press release to the people listed on your media list, then follow up with your press kit when reporters and journalists contact you!

About the Author: Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters Degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve

Announcing 96square

See also: "96square has launched."

96square has launched.

Dear friends, The Startup Milwaukee team is excited to announce the launch of 96square, a co-working space for high-growth startup companies in Southeastern Wisconsin. Located in the historic Blatz Wash House, 96square provides entrepreneurs with access to affordable  scalable office space; mentorship; potential investors; talent and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

96square is a game changer for Milwaukee's community of innovative entrepreneurs. As research shows, the startups are responsible for all net new job creation--and we all know Milwaukee and Wisconsin desperately need more jobs. At Startup Milwaukee we are happy to step forward and provide a place where entrepreneurs, talent and capital can collide and accelerate the growth of Milwaukee's top startup companies.

We are excited to have great companies such as Alithias, Find My Spot, Onkol, Rent College Pads, SAR32 Technologies, UCAP, LLC, Voxelmetric, Wisconsin Super Angel Fund and more already located at 96square.

The meaning of 96square goes beyond having a "cool name." The city of Milwaukee is approximately 96 square miles, and 96square will be the epicenter of entrepreneurship and innovation in our great city.

Are you a startup, designer, developer or engineer looking for affordable dedicated desk or private office space for your team? Learn more and apply for 96square membership at 96square.org. Memberships start at just $110/month.

Your first chance to check out 96square is this Thursday, October 24 at our Capital Connections event featuring CSA Partners and Scanalytics. RSVP to reserve your free tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/event/8508341679

Thanks to the many people who have made this endeavor possible: Ronnie Reum of SAR32 Technologies, Heather Johnston of Find My Spot, Marvin Bynum of Godfrey & Kahn and many more.

See you at 96square!

Matthew J. Cordio, Executive Chairman Alicia Boknevitz, President Tim Grove, Corporate Secretary Joe Poeschl, Treasurer Michael Anderson, Community Outreach Director

Roadmap to Protecting Your Company’s Value: Navigating Your Legal Issues

You can protect the value of your privately held company by working with your lawyer to make strategic business and legal decisions and by ensuring that your legal documents are consistent in implementing those decisions. Many privately held companies face similar legal issues and all can benefit from developing a legal plan to help protect company assets, both tangible and intangible. Use the following information as a roadmap when considering your company’s legal issues and driving your company’s business plan.

Company Structure

Your company’s legal structure provides the framework for conducting your business operations. It is critically important that you take into account your long-range business, legal and tax planning goals when developing your company’s legal structure.

Three primary choices for your company’s legal structure include:

(1) limited liability company/tax partnership

(2) corporation/ tax C corporation

(3) corporation/ tax S corporation

Each alternative offers advantages, which you should consider in light of your long-term business strategy. In certain circumstances, a mature company may change its company structure in order to take advantage of benefits provided by the new structure.

Protecting company intangible assets

You and your executive team can protect your company’s intangible assets through a combination of legal contracts and protective filings. You may choose to protect intellectual property through patent, trademark and copyright filings. You will often need to protect your company’s intellectual property through protective contract provisions in license agreements and other customer or vendor agreements. Contracts with your employees also provide important safeguards, including non-competition agreements, confidentiality provisions and assignment of invention agreements, to assist in preserving company value.

Raising Capital For Growth Initiatives

Growth oriented companies often look to private equity groups for additional investment. Legal documentation defines the investors’ rights and shields the company from exposure. You may need to amend your company’s operating agreement or corporate by-laws to define the new investors’ economic rights. The operating agreement or shareholder agreement may provide contract rights that limit transfers of any new stock or securities that are issued in connection with the investment. Your company may need to issue a private placement memorandum and subscription agreement in order to comply with applicable securities laws and regulations and to protect your company from potential securities related claims.

Several common investment structures for a private invest- ment include preferred stock or units, common stock or units, participating preferred stock or units, convertible promissory notes and warrants (options to acquire stock or units in the future for a defined exercise price). Common issues that arise in the course of investor negotiations include investor rights in company governance (e.g., board seat, veto rights over certain defined actions and voting rights), future equity dilution if new investors or key employees are issued equity, future adjustments to investor equity based on post investment performance, and staged investment structures (i.e., the investors contribute additional post-closing funds as goals are achieved).

Incentivizing employees

You can use an employee incentive equity or compensation plan as a tool to protect the value that key employees provide to your business. Equity plans can include sales or grants of stock or units, options to acquire equity in the future and specially tailored cash bonus plans. Some cash bonus plans may provide special payouts on the successful sale of a company, which provides management a powerful incentive to remain with a company through the completion of a transaction. Vesting provisions help protect a company from risk that it will have to make a payment if the employee chooses to follow another opportunity or does not satisfy performance goals.

One frequently used tool to incentivize a key employee is a profits interest. A profits interest is normally attractive to an employee because, if structured properly, the employee is not taxed at the time of grant and future payments on exit can qualify for capital gain treatment if the company is sold at a profit. Meanwhile, if a company does not increase in value or produce operating profits after the grant, its preexisting owners will not experience economic dilution.

Corporate governance and shareholder agreements

Executives and owners should periodically review your company’s operating agreement, By-Laws and any applicable shareholder agreements to ensure that your company’s and its stakeholders’ interests are properly governed in light of current events, business strategies and legal developments. Operating and shareholder agreements often provide rules that limit or prohibit shareholders from transferring equity to certain parties, provide options or requirements that a company purchase equity from the owners in certain circumstances, such as termination of employment, death, disability, or bankruptcy, and require a company to make cash distributions to shareholders or partners if a company is a tax flow-through entity.

Dispute resolution

Defending and/or settling disputes with third parties in a cost efficient manner, potentially including former employees or governmental regulatory agencies, directly protects your company’s cash resources as well as its (and your) reputation. Creating an employee handbook with appropriate legal provisions can reduce the probability and impact of litigation with former employees.

Other key contracts:

Other key contracts often include finance-related contracts with lenders (e.g., promissory notes, security agreements, inter-creditor agreement, etc.), lease agreements with landlords, and key vendor and customer agreements. Contract terms must protect company access to critical assets and resources

Add-on acquisitions:

Companies that are poised for growth often accelerate their growth process through acquisitions of smaller companies that will add a critical market segment, technology or other component to the business. Legal due diligence and review of the target company’s contracts and legal rights (including the strength of intellectual property protection) helps the acquirer measure the value of the target’s business. Legal negotiation and documents play a key role in accomplishing the acquisition, including preparing and negotiating a letter of intent, drafting and negotiating the purchase contract and designing contracts with key employees of the target company.

Exit Strategies:

A privately-held company’s likely exit strategy should influence all of its le- gal decisions. Common exits include a sale to a strategic or financial buyer, management buyout, partial sale through a company recapitalization trans action, transfer to a family member or members, initial public offering and sale to an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan).

Your privately-held company’s executive team can use strategic legal planning to maximize and protect the value of your company’s tangible and intangible assets and to support your company’s overall business strategy.

About the author: Daniel P. Cooper is a shareholder in Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.’s Business Law Practice. He can be reached at 414-298-8134 or dcooper@reinhartlaw.com.

How to Write a Killer Press Release

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band, for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools, you can create a press kit that will help you attract the attention of local media outlets. This is part 2 of a 3 part series. (If haven’t already, start with Part 1: The Media List.)

The keyword in news is new. It's easy to communicate your news to local media with the standard format of a press release.  This format makes it easy for them to digest your information.  A well written press release can make or break your media campaign.

The 11 Critical Parts of a Press Release:

1. Media contact: The contact person at your company for questions or interviews.

2. Release date: Most press releases are either: “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,” or “UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL: Day, month, year.” (Under embargo means that the media should not publish the news until the embargo expires.)

3.  Headline: The headline should catch the reader’s attention and contain the main topic of the post. A good headline goes a long way. Here’s five easy tricks to writing catchy headlines.

4.  Sub-headline: This is a note or summary that contains other important information. Punctuate like a title and center align.

5.  Dateline: "MONTH, DAY, YEAR (City, State)." The dateline is almost always bold and listed in that order.

6.  Introductory paragraph: Write the most important information and any important details.  If someone reads this paragraph and this paragraph only, they should know what the story is about.

7. Body paragraphs: These paragraphs contain more information and details. The body should be about two paragraphs maximum.

8.  Quote: Supply a quote from an executive or founder. This can be used as a statement from your company in lieu of an interview.

9.  Other information: This is for other details that are not critical to the story. Keep this section short.

10.   "ABOUT [YOUR COMPANIES NAME]" Include information like your corporate mission, website, history, etc. This should be single spaced.

11.  After the article, include three hash marks (###) to mark the end of the press release. (See example below.)

Stayed tuned for Part 3: The Press Kit

Part 1: 5 Easy Steps to Unlock Media Coverage

Part 3:  The Press Kit

About the Author: Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve

Five Easy Steps to Unlock Media Coverage

So you want to see your name in lights. Media coverage is one of the best and least expensive ways to let the world know about you and your company (or rock band, for that matter). The trouble with media coverage is that you can’t buy it or send a regular email to get it. With a couple of simple tools, you can create a press kit that viagra shop usa will help you attract the attention of local media outlets.

This is the first part of a three part series. Let’s get started!

The first part of your press kit is your media list. The media list is a collection of names and email addresses for local reporters and journalists. Pick reporters and journalists who are likely to cover you and your business. The best way to get ignored is to send a press release about a new product to a reporter who covers music and arts (don’t be this person). If you don’t have a good media list even the world's best press release will fall flat. This is the leg work that will make your media campaign successful.

Here are five easy ways to make a targeted media list:

1) Define your audience. Who are you trying to reach? Who are your customers?

2) Identify the publications that your audience reads.

3) Look at each of these publications and get to know the type of content they publish.

4) Find the journalist who has previously covered topics similar to yours.

5) Find that journalist’s contact information and add it to your media contact list.

Follow these five easy steps to find a handful of reporters and you will be well on your way to a successful media campaign!

Part 2: The Press Release

Part 3: Create Your Winning Press Kit

About the Author:
Steve Anderson is an entrepreneur who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently he is the COO of LessonLogs and the Founder of Laylines Consulting. He has helped numerous companies obtain seed stage funding and is a previous winner of Startup Weekend Madison. In addition, Steve has a Masters Degree from the Wisconsin School of Business. Find him on Twitter: @LaylinesSteve.

Intern with Startup Milwaukee

College students, this is your chance to be in the center of Milwaukee’s tech startup scene. Startup Milwaukee is seeking an intern with an interest in startup companies/entrepreneurship, nonprofits, marketing, writing, technology and/or event planning. You’ll have the opportunity to learn from and network with startup founders, emerging tech companies and nonprofit leaders in the community. Positions available for Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters. Duties & requirements include:

• Assist in planning, promoting and managing Startup Milwaukee events
• Provide support to the Startup Milwaukee team on special projects and initiatives
• Help manage Startup Milwaukee’s social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
• Writing and researching content for the Startup Milwaukee blog
• Attend community events related to entrepreneurship and technology

Qualifications:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Student must be pursuing a degree in business administration, communications, entrepreneurship, management, marketing, writing/public relations or other related field

This is a for-credit internship and requires a time commitment of 10 hours per week. Please contact us with any questions.

[gravityform id="8" name="Apply" ajax="true"]

Startup of the Week: ubumm

by Karen Oliva

Maryann and Emily are avid travelers and co-founders of ubumm, an advising service dedicated to enhance, simplify and unify the study abroad experience for students.

While studying abroad for nearly eight years combined, ubumm was brought to life through their passion for creating a networking tool that provided insightful information on how to budget, improve and simplify experiences abroad.

Both Maryann and Emily continue to journey as they move and headquarter into Milwaukee.

ubumm was accepted into the inaugural class of the Startup Milwaukee Mentorship Program. I asked Maryann about her experiences in the Mentorship Program, travels abroad and the path that lead to ubumm.

How did ubumm come about?

One night while we were living on Lake Como in Italy, over a bottle of Italian red, we were discussing how difficult it was to meet fellow student travelers abroad. There was no platform for students to connect and help each other while they were abroad to save them money and time. 

For example, we recalled how different my initial study abroad experience was compared to Emily’s, who spoke the language and had been to Italy before. Emily was able to travel to Capri on 150 Euros while I paid 300 Euros through the university, and Emily was able to explore more of the island then I was. The reality is, when you first arrive in a new country, universities handle most of your necessities which can be costly. But if I had known students that were traveling at the same time, students who had been to Capri before, or students that were staying in Capri, I would have saved a lot of frustration and money.

From this, ubumm was born. We decided there was a necessity for students to connect while abroad and we want to facilitate those interactions.

Where did you start and why did you choose to move ubumm to Milwaukee?

Emily and I started in Lake Como and moved back stateside in 2011. Emily is from Wisconsin and I am from Florida. Initially, we have been working apart for two years, putting all of our waitress money and off hours into the business. A few months ago, Emily applied for Startup Milwaukee’s Mentorship Program and we have been pursuing Milwaukee ever since our acceptance into the program. Moving to Milwaukee just makes sense. Our mentors and programmers all reside in Milwaukee, which makes it a win-win! Not to mention the Milwaukee tech scene is very welcoming.

What are your upcoming goals and how does Milwaukee play a role in them?

We will be launching our mobile applications by the end of October. We hope this launch will allow students to connect around the world. Sasquatch Studios, our programmers based in Milwaukee, are an essential part of this project. In addition, our mentors are helping us reach our goal with their advice and support.

In fact, on November 16 we’re having a study abroad workshop at the Translator offices in Milwaukee to assist students and showcase our application. Our mentors have been essential in helping us create this event.

What do you think about the Milwaukee startup scene?

The startup scene in Milwaukee seems to be a very tight-nit community, but an open one. Everyone we have met in the Milwaukee startup scene has been very friendly and welcoming—making it easier for us to make connections, grow our business and develop our entrepreneurial skills.

What are you looking forward to as you continue participating in the Startup Milwaukee Mentorship Program?

So far our mentors have been the most valuable part of the program. Our mentors have offered invaluable advice and are always willing to lend a hand. We hope to keep growing these relationships and Startup Milwaukee has been the key in fostering these relationships with their events and networking opportunities. We are excited to continue learning and growing from the program.

Connect with ubumm:

• Website: ubumm.com
• Twitter: @ubumm
• Facebook: facebook.com/ubumm

Startup Milwaukee Stories: Digital Measures

by Karen Oliva

Join us Thursday, October 3 from 6-8:00 p.m. for an event you won’t want to miss. 

Startup Milwaukee is excited to highlight Digital Measures, a Milwaukee tech startup success story. Digital Measures was founded in 1999 by Matt Bartel while he was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Digital Measures faculty activity reporting software is now used by 60% of the 500 largest universities in the United States.

Digital Measures is bootstrapped and believes that not having outside investors enables them to solely focus on their clients’ needs. They are able to translate everyone’s data management needs into customized system requirements that fits their needs.

Startup Milwaukee is excited to have Matt Bartel share his startup story at Digital Measures’ hip office in Milwaukee’s historic Third Ward.

RSVP via Facebook or Meetup.

Digital Measures is located at 301 N Broadway, Floor Four, Milwaukee, WI 53202. (The entrance is on Buffalo, behind Anthropologie. Look for the silver overhang and then take the elevator to the fourth floor.)

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Startup of the Week: Print Command

Print Command addresses organizational intelligence, operations and security vulnerabilities stemming from enterprise print environments. They securely process huge amounts of unmanaged or unattended data; sort, define, and decipher it; then present it as immediately actionable information. This defense-in-depth technique keeps client content safe, costs low, employees happy and enterprises mission-capable.

Print Command understands that printers and print networks aren’t sexy. They’re not exciting. They’re easy to ignore—which makes them irresistible for hackers. While printers play a key role in an organization’s information flow, they also represent a critical area of vulnerability in the enterprise security posture. The bad guys aren’t ignoring your print environment. Neither are we. To that end, Print Command’s unique 6 component solution suite, Print Command Olympus™, is specifically designed to thwart the most nefarious print environment hacker exploits: 1. use for network reconnaissance, 2. use as a network breach point/attack vector, and 3. hardcopy loss.

An engagement with Print Command entails three phases. First, they help you define your threat horizon. Next, they help you develop viable courses of action to address those threats. Finally, they help you act decisively to minimize your threat exposure. Unlike other solutions that are antiquated in an age of cyber threats, with Print Command you don’t just manage your print environment…you command it.

Key Facts:

• Founder: Dave Westlake
• Year founded: 2010
• Number of employees: Less than 10 (plus contractors)
• HQ: Hartland, WI
• Funding: Mix of angel and bootstrap
• Website: print-command.com

Startup Milwaukeean of the Week: Jeff Koser

Jeff is the spirited leader of Selling to Zebras, Inc., a metrics-driven software sales enablement company.

Passionate about changing the way organizations sell, Jeff provides sales professionals with processes, tools and software that improve sales and emphasize results over busy work.  Most recently, under Jeff’s leadership, Selling to Zebras developed software that empowers sales people to manage the Selling to Zebras process in real time from the field.

Jeff has more than 30 years’ experience in leadership roles in sales, operations and marketing. He is the award-winning co-author of Selling to Zebras HOW TO CLOSE 90% of the BUSINESS YOU PURSUE FASTER, MORE EASILY and MORE PROFITABLY.  In 2010, he was recognized as one of the best sales authors of all time in the book, The Sales Gurus.

Prior to founding Selling to Zebras, Jeff was Chief Operations Officer for Baan Supply Chain Solutions. Under his leadership, revenues grew more than tenfold in five years. Earlier in his career, Jeff held management and sales positions at companies such as NCR Corporation, MAI Basic Four and Xerox Computer Services.

At what point did you become interested in entrepreneurship?

In 1994 I joined a small Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software company headquartered in The Netherlands. Our first task was to figure out how to compete and win against large formidable companies like Oracle and SAP. We developed a profile of the type company who would have the courage to buy from a software company that they had never heard of. We failed early, and often. The excitement of figuring out everything, from the go-to-market strategy, to basic business functions like payroll and expense check processing, was intoxicating.

What has been the largest difficulty you have faced as an entrepreneur?

The most difficult part of being an entrepreneur is creating leverage. Key resources have to be leveraged across the business to allow it to scale. Scale helps create the balance necessary so principles can work on the business rather than continuously working in the business. Someone once told me if “you are the business” then you don’t have a business. Those words stuck with me. We constantly work on creating the proper balance so the business can scale.

What makes Milwaukee a unique place to start a company?

As you read in the introduction we are a sales enablement company with software and services that helps companies sell more. One of our deliverables is “the Zebra”. A Zebra is the profile of the perfect prospect. We also have a Zebra for our business. The Selling to Zebras – Zebra includes a description of the desired cultural fit between us and our customers. Our relationship with and the culture between us and our customers sets the tone for our entire business.

Milwaukee is a great place to start a business because of the people. The Milwaukee area university-level education system delivers people who are well rounded, grounded, honest, hard-working and nice. The culture of the business is the business. Milwaukee people allow us to build a business that is fun and makes a difference for our customers.

And it also helps that they are all Packer fans!

What piece of advice do you have for new start-ups?

Learn every week. Adjust your vision as soon as you have better information. Sell only to Zebras.

What was your favorite musical artist as a teenager?

Bob Dylan. Blood on the Tracks was my favorite Dylan album. Bob couldn’t sing back then either – but his lyrics were raw and incredible.

Connect with Jeff:

• Website: sellingtozebras.com
• Twitter: @zebrajeff
• Facebook: facebook.com/sellingtozebras
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/jeff-koser/0/604/32a
• Mobile: 414.650.1494

Space for startups for rent at Thirsty Boy

Third Ward, Riverwalk office sublet: 1,000 sq. ft. beam and brick with hardwood floors. Multiple workstations (no cubes), enclosed office, conference room, bathroom. Access to full kitchen and additional conference room overlooking Water Street. Utilities, high-speed internet and furnishing included. $2,250/mo, minimum 6 mos. commitment. Contact Christine@ThirstyBoy.com.

Startup of the Week: Pointfall

Pointfall was merely a joke in its infancy. In fact, the idea was a joke in the first place. The group deal/daily deal market has been duplicated many times over. Unfortunately, this market has been causing problems for businesses that use this specific type of marketing platform. The term “loss leader” has been thrown around, but those who have used the platform would actually be happy if a “loss lead” were even achieved. Through a downfall of sub par valuations, major players in the market continue to squirm and squeal with only the option to either invest more resources or chop heads. In many cases, both end points were reached.

After humoring themselves with the faults in the group deal industry, Pointfall Founder & CEO, Sean Tepper, suggested that the market should simply provide 100% revenue to businesses while charging a flat monthly fee for usage. The concept would have remained a joke, but Founder & COO, Nic DiStasio, commented on its brilliance and decided to do his homework on the industry. To their surprise, he found over 30 entities with the same profit sharing model which generated the same lackluster results for businesses.

At this time, Pointfall implemented a survey to the local market asking how much businesses would pay per month if they could keep 100% of the revenue from all group deal sales. The masses voted on a number, and Pointfall used that number to define their pricing structure.

In April of 2013, Pointfall became a legitimate business. They then made the decision to close down their existing marketing and advertising businesses in order to drive forward 100% with Pointfall.

“There is no better time to act then right now.”

• Consumers: Save More by Using Points!
• Businesses: Keep 100% of the Profits
• Sales Representatives: Earn High Commissions

Key Facts:

• Founders:Sean Tepper (CEO) Nic DiStasio (COO)
• 
Founded: April 2013
• 
Employees: Less than 10
• 
Funding: Self funded by the revenues generated through our marketing and advertising service based businesses. No investors and no loans required.
• 
HQ Location:Hudson Business Lounge, 310 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202
• Website: pointfall.com