Dallas entrepreneur Marshall Haas wants to paint your picture, 18th century style! The Startup Chile alum, and founder of Obsorb, recently launched a fun little side project called 18th.me.

At 18th.me, you can get your very own, hand-painted portrait of YOU inside some of history’s most famous paintings… all for just $139, what a steal!

Check it out and get yours at 18th.me.

Born out of the original Dallas Startup Weekend, 1FTP (@1FTPapp) is ramping up for its official debut later this quarter. The development team, led by Brian Scates (@brianscates), set out to “change the way you use FTP.” We spoke to Brian recently to see how far they’ve come.

1. What does 1FTP do?

1FTP interface

Our goal with 1FTP is to make working with FTP connections stupid simple. No more remembering passwords or connection settings, no more configuring accounts on a server, and no more worrying about what contractors and employees do with access. We’re building a web-based service that will store your accounts, and let you share (and unshare) access with others very easily.

We’re targeting everyone who has to work with FTP, making the experience easy for end users who need to transfer files, and robust for IT departments who want to regain control over access to their servers.

2. How did the idea come about?

The idea came about just prior to a Startup Weekend in Dallas. At the time I was the Creative Director for a small digital agency, and found myself constantly having to go dig through email to find FTP credentials when things needed updating, or when we needed to give a new worker access. My co-founder Lance Schlegel and I have both run our own agencies for years as well, and this has always been a big pain point.

I originally just wanted an easy place to store all the credentials – a web app that would always be available from whatever computer I was looking at. But of course the idea of sharing access securely came quickly on the heels of that idea.

When we had contractors or employees leave, for whatever reason, I’d have to worry about them leaving with access to our servers, as well as client’s servers, which we didn’t control, and hope that they didn’t use that access against us. With 1FTP, they would never have direct access to the servers, so I could simply disable their access in 1FTP.

3. Who is on the team?

In addition to myself, Lance Schlegel is my co-founder and is heading up the front-end development, along with our developer Scott Foster who’s building all the backend PHP for the core application.

4. What’s your role?

As the CEO I’m managing the vision and the business side of the startup. Being a small team though, and with my background as a designer, I’ve also been getting my hands dirty in the design of the UI and website, as well as the pitch deck and other marketing efforts. Basically a little bit of everything!

5. What sort of development challenges did you encounter and how did you overcome them?

As with any software project, it’s always harder than you originally expect. We hit some serious roadblocks with the original php framework we started with and had to pull a bit of a ‘windows vista’ and back out to a new framework that worked much better, but required recoding a lot of the app. I think one of the downsides of the development scramble at an event like Startup Weekend is that in the rush to get something out quickly, you sacrifice planning, which can come back to bite you later if you carry the project forward. Better to hit those roadblocks at an early phase though, so you can go to market with a much more robust and reliable app.

6. Whats next for 1FTP? We hear you you’re moving the company to San Francisco?

We’ve been bootstrapping the app for about a year or so now, and are close to having a public beta available. At this point we’re looking to go ahead and start raising capital to enable us to develop the application further and rapidly respond to beta feedback in preparation for a formal launch. I’m moving to San Francisco this month to pursue funding, with the rest of the team to follow. We want to give 1FTP the best possible chance for success, so while we are big advocates for the Dallas startup community, we feel like the support, talent, and capital infrastructure in San Francisco/Silicon Valley will give us a much better run. We have the means to take advantage of that environment, so that’s where we’re headed.

Everyone on the team is really excited about the opportunity that 1FTP has to fill a big need in the web development and file sharing communities which has been neglected to date.

To sign up for early access, head to http://get1FTP.com/ 

The mudbugs are in season and it’s time for CoHabitat’s 3rd Annual Crawfish Boil (map)! The fun starts at 5!

The CoHabitat Boil is a great way to meet a lot of great people (entrepreneurs, developers, creatives, to name a few) from the local web/tech startup community. It’s gonna be a good time, so be prepared to meet some people and get your hands dirty!

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=173241576066614

– Alex StagemanMarketing

Promotions intern, CoHabitat LLC

SocialDish has officially launched since the last story LaunchDFW posted about the startup. I was able to catch up with James Canington of SocialDish to find out how the startup is doing after launch.

James tells us about the response.

The response has been tremendous.  We have users in all 50 states and we get inquiries from other countries trying to sign up.  We don’t accept users outside the USA yet. Traffic has been great,  When we started our Alexa Traffic Rank was 3,097,307 World / 321,161 US, on 04/05/2011 it was 210,542 World / 25,885 US.  Deals were the hardest part because nobody knew who we were.  Now that people are receiving emails and they see a working website that looks clean we have more businesses approaching us to do deals.

James also gives us some insight on what the client/advertiser response has been.

They have been wonderful, understanding that we are a small company just getting started.  Most of them are very excited about the concept and see the long term vision.  They are thrilled to be a part of something that could be big.

 

Canington shares what the ultimate goal for SocialDish is.

We want to set the standard for Social Referral Marketing, by making buying social and profitable for everyone involved.  We want people to see the value they bring to the table by sharing their purchases with friends and demand companies compensate them for helping build their business. We also want people to make money, enough money to make a difference in their lives.

What is next for SocialDish?

Expansion. We are looking to cities outside of D/FW.  We Also are very excited about SocialDish for Good, it is our program to help Non-Profits.  We hope they see the benefit in promoting us to their supporters.

James West (@jwwest), co-founder of Sapling App has launched Treehouse Mobile, DFW’s newest application software developer for mobile phones and devices. The first product under Treehouse Mobile is a re-purposed Sapling for iPhone.

West was part of the Startup Bus team that began in Cleveland and made its way to Austin for SXSW in March.  The group was chosen as semi-finalists in the SXSW Interactive Awards competition and LaunchDFW recently sat down with James for an update.

West’s other two partners on the StartupBus have since opted out of the team for lack of central location, and in part due to their additional work load.  Some incubators had expressed interest when the application made the semi-finals; however, the incubators were not local and were ultimately ruled out. West continued to push forward on development for the app by forming a strategic partnership with designer (and friend) Sam Roh. They formed Treehouse Mobile together to pursue additional projects.

“Treehouse Mobile strives to make the user experience richer by providing methods in which communication becomes more pertinent and more valuable for the consumer.”  - James West, co-founder

West went on to describe the updated version of Sapling as a location-based deals engine, or a push version of Foursquare that alerts users when they are within range of a deal. The range can be set by the administrator of the deal from within a few miles to just a few yards.

James was kind enough to demo the app for LaunchDFW and I liked the very clean presentation and user-friendly interface. He demonstrated a deal he set up just for the presentation. I was impressed by the features which included a map with geo-location and a QR code provided for the user to claim the deal. Treehouse Mobile will further develop a mobile API, as well as a self-service browser admin screen for developers and retailers.

While a lot of the interview was spent on my fascination with the application and its potential, I tried to poke some holes in the product. For example, I asked about if it would be an issue that QR codes are still a new concept for many consumers.  James took it in stride and quickly explained the software will also allow merchants to use bar codes or even manually-entered coupon codes.

The application is set to debut this summer.  With a successful demonstration and huge potential for the product, we wish you good luck!.

iChair is the creation of Vindi Sedey, who saw a market for an advanced stand + case for Apple devices. The iChair design was inspired by the passion that Apple consumers have for their devices, keeping simplicity and functionality in mind. It utilizes the highest quality materials, with locking mechanisms and advanced manufacturing techniques, to produce a product that provides ultimate functionality and sleek looks. The company is currently looking to raise capital through their Kickstarter campaign for the iChair Ipad 2 product line.

We were able to catch up with iChair’s Director of Marketing, Shefali Sedey, and get more familiar with iChair. Take a look at their story and help kickstart their project!

iChair’s Shefali Sedy explains how the iChair idea came about:

The idea for iChair came from my husband, Vindi Sedey,  about a year ago. After struggling to find a case with a stand that both protects your phone and does portrait and landscape, he thought iChair would help solve those problems. After a lot of research, we got a design together and he went overseas to China where he oversaw the production of the cases. We launched in January at CES 2011 in Vegas.

How did you and Vindi get started down the entrepreneurship path?

My husband actually started his own commercial real estate company, and continues to manage it. However, the economy is another reason we started iChair. So far, its a two-person team, my husband and I, but, we’ve found some solid contractors to help in areas we’re unfamiliar in such as web design or graphic design.

What is the funding strategy for iChair?

We are completely self-funded, which is why we needed help from KickStarter to produce the iPad 2 and iPod Touch cases. If we reach our goal, we’ll be able to produce a mold for the iPad 2 and iPod Touch 4G allowing us to increase our product line and keep up with newer technology.

The tablet space exploding this year, will you be supporting other platforms?

Right now, we’re really just focused on Apple products. With Apple, they only produce one phone or tablet per year so it’s easier to keep up with producing a case. With other companies coming out with new products every month, it makes it difficult to keep up -especially for a start-up company.

What is next for iChair?

We are working on getting our products to retailers and distributing globally. We want to continue growing by manufacturing cases for newer products.

Formed in 2010 in Ft. Worth, SocialDish is now using the power of Social Referral Marketing to allow members to share the amazing opportunity to earn real money just by posting, tweeting and chatting. Put Simply, Social Dish is a Group Buying site that uses Social Referral Marketing to reward its users with cash for just referring others who end up taking advantage of the amazing deals SocialDish has to offer.

Sharing SocialDish leads to rewards. Every time you refer a friend that takes advantage of a deal, you earn a percentage of their purchase. The same goes for their friends. The sky is the limit – you can sign up as many friends as you’d like. As your network grows you will see your percentage of earnings grow as well. The potential is incredible. With the kind of rewards and quality deals we offer, there’s no real ‘selling’ involved. All you have to do is click that button and share SocialDish with your friends.

Social Dish is currently in Pre-Launch, they will not start offering deals until later this month and are in the process of building a Base during Pre-Launch.

Their website states their pitch to potential group members as.

Think of us as a friend with connections. Every morning, we email you an exclusive deal – huge discounts on everything from fine dining to upscale entertainment in your local area.

Enjoy a three-course meal or an evening at the theater without worrying about your bank account. Explore the places,  people, and the food that make your city unique with SocialDish daily deals. Our great deals are only half of the reason to be a part of SocialDish.

Sign up Here

Follow them on Twitter

As part of their Entrepreneurial Development Series, UT Dallas will host a workshop on Feb. 11 to help you develop your business plan and pitch. The full-day session costs $95 and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Topics will include:

The Dallas Angel Network hosted a pitch event at Hully and Mo’s in Dallas on Wednesday, organized and sponsored by Vela Keller. About 50 people attended, and after hearing discussions afterward, the response by angels was very positive. First up was DP, presenting their idea of prevention of academic cheating, via proprietary technology that detects HOW people type naturally. They also seek to prevent student collusion and plagiarism. They have several patents filed, and aside from their own capital, competition winnings, and friends-and-family financing closed, they are seeking $1MM of equity at a $3.5MM post money valuation.

Next up was Smart OES, providing a green solution to reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings by up to 25% through a combination of software, hardware, and cloud services. Smart OES, founded by Bryan Guido Hassin, already has 8 clients. After a friends-and-family round of financing, the company is looking to issue $1MM of convertible debt, but will also consider equity investments.

Thanks to Wiedemann Digital for providing video of the event:

Joey Pomerenke kicks off Startup Weekend Dallas.  For more videos, search on YouTube for “StartupWeekend Dallas“.