Earlier this month, we mentioned an upcoming mobile app hackathon event called BeMyApp. And if you’ve been putting off registering, well, then shame on you. It’s this Friday 7pm through Sunday 9pm at Tech Wildcatters (the Tech Church) at 2700 Fairmount in Uptown. Come meet some cool folks, and compete with others around the world simultaneously in the 2012 Mobile App Olympics. This event is supported by quite a few local user groups, and has gotten some big time press recognition.

For those concerned, neither BeMyApp nor any of the mentors or judges takes any ownership of any of the ideas discussed or apps built during the weekend. The teams assume all ownership and must decide how control will be divvied up after the competition.

So get to registering, then come on down and meet the host, Ben Morrow (contact.us@bemyapp.com). I’m sure he will be really busy. But he’ll try to be nice, if you introduce yourself. I KID! I know Ben well, and he’s a super nice guy. (I hope that last comment doesn’t ruin his street cred).

Ben is also co-founder of Liquid, a local Dallas startup designing mobile apps for personal finance. They are launching their app into the Apple App Store this week. Find out more about Ben and Liquid at http://getliquid.com.

Hey! Are all you mobile devs ready to geek out for an entire weekend? Forget friends and family. Set aside some time for your inner rockstar to build the coolest mobile app you can imagine! On February 24th (through the 26th), BeMyApp will be hosting a 7-city code fest. Here’s the gist.

People in seven cities (Dallas, SF, NYC, Berlin, London, Paris, Zurich) will gather on Friday evening to mingle, then pitch their great idea. Teams form around the most popular ideas and work through the weekend to build a mobile app. Sound familiar? It may. But this is specifically for mobile apps.

And this isn’t just for developers. Designers, marketers, and others with special super powers are welcome, too! Winners from each city will then compete against each other during a 48-hour worldwide vote that is being dubbed App’Olympics.

Tech Wildcatters will be hosting the Dallas event, which starts at 7pm. There are some really cool prizes already lined up. Stay tuned for more info regarding speakers and judges.

Got questions or interested in sponsoring? Holler at ben@getliquid.com

Register here.

A packed house at the Magnolia theater watched as the graduates of the Tech Wildcatters fall program presented for the final time in front of investors, advisors, and enthusiasts on Tuesday afternoon. When I say packed house, I ain’t kidding. I thought the last pitch day this past May was crowded. But yesterday was even more so. So many fans wanted to look on and support the local startup community. Warm and fuzzies all around. I was in the very last row trying to live blog. But it was so cramped back there, I couldn’t type very quickly. I just ended up taking notes for this story.

Gabriella Draney kicked off the afternoon talking a little bit about the TW program and announcing that the events were being live-streamed on Ustream. I heard later there were a few technical hiccups, but it was certainly nice to have the support coming from places all around the globe, at one point reaching 12,000 viewers!

Jon Feld then spoke about the numbers — talking about how much investment they had done, how many companies had gone through the program, etc. Numbers were flying, and I couldn’t keep up with it all.

Brad Taylor came up to talk about the partnerships and sponsorships they have developed with local companies and organizations that have helped make the program so successful. Among them were Softlayer, Silicon Valley Bank, Haynes & Boone, Montgomery Coscia Greilich, TriNet, and Jackson Walker. My apologies if I’ve missed anyone. But the names were coming fast and furious.

Invensys CEO Sudipta Bhattacharya spoke briefly about his involvement with TW and where he sees the future.

Then Gabriella announced the event sponsors. Livid Lobster was handling the camera and other technical equipment for the live stream. Travis Wolff & Company, Invensys, and MCG were also there to support.

There was a Q&A panel that would post questions for each of the 4 presenting companies. The panel consisted of Mike Dodd of Austin Ventures, Ned Hill of DFJ Mercury, and Paul Ford of Softlayer.

And then on to the main event. Managing Partner of Trailblazer Capital, Joel Fontenot, introduced the first presenter, Device Magic. Device Magic eases the data collection hassles for organizations by allowing field force data collection on mobile forms. They have 50 daily downloads, 40 paying customers and have generated $140k in revenue in 2011.

David Gabriel then introduced Gerard Ibarra from Newton Insight, which we’ve covered last week. Newton Insight brings transparency to the chain-of-custody in the supply chain and logistics fields. They are looking to provide the service at a fraction of the cost of the big boys, by offering, among other features, a dashboard of dynamic performance metrics and a predictive alerting system.

Jeff Borden from Brand Protection Agency, a company from the inaugural TW 2010 program, gave a quick update on the company, and announced the seed round financing they were working on.

After a short break, Gabriella returned to the stage to introduce a native son of Texas who built the largest livestreaming service on the web, Ustream, Brad Hunstable to give the keynote speech. Hunstable started out with the history of Ustream, then transitioned into how to build the DFW ecosystem. Local incubators/accelerators were mentioned, as were StartupLawyer.com (Ryan Roberts), and to my surprise a shoutout to us for supporting the startup community. Thanks a bunch! Hunstable then opened it up for questions. An angel investor seated towards the back (I won’t mention his name, unless he wants the credit) asked what we can do to get people (investors) to think less about investing in oil & gas and real estate, and think more about investing in technology. The question was applauded by many in the audience. Hunstable answered that while there is certainly the need for oil & gas and real estate, technology investment is where the future is, and it’s the best way to grow and support the local ecosystem of young entrepreneurs.

Michael Martin of Principal Solar introduced the 3rd presenting company, Mineful, which I wrote about last week. Mineful specializes in predictive customer retention. Mineful has sophisticated algorithms that predict a customer’s likelihood of not returning to your store, and allow rule-based criteria that can trigger the automatic delivery of specific messages to your customers based on metrics that you define.

The 4th and final presenters were the team from Paytap. Co-founders Sean-Michael Daley (CEO) and Chip Oxendine (CTO), demonstrated how their socialized bill paying platform would serve as the middle man. Examples include parents paying directly for a child’s cell phone bill, a adult child paying for their elderly parent’s senior care, or a concerned sister covering a wayward brother’s rent or utilities.

All are great companies with terrific pitches. But if I had to pick the best presentation, my vote goes to Newton Insight. They told the best story, by introducing a personal and human element, in the name of “William”. I think they have the best chance to succeed given their background in supply chain and logistics.

John Reed closed out the event, announcing that he was the only thing standing between the crowd and a happy hour next door at the Lemon Bar, courtesy of Microsoft. Best wishes to all the teams presenting. We look forward to the next TW class in early 2012.

Imagine a loved one is in intensive care and needs an immediate organ transplant. Unarguably, a time for serious concern. Now consider that many logistics and transportation companies track these items with an old spreadsheet system, or even on good old-fashioned paper. Now are you scared? That’s the kind of scenario that prompted Gerard Ibarra to find a better way. In July 2011, he and co-founder John Zurawski founded Newton Insight to bring more transparency to the tracking and logistics involved in specimen transport. This will enable care-givers (among others) to make better near-real-time decisions, should a change in delivery status prompt a change from the original, or latest, decision.

Ibarra and Zurawski met at UPS about 20 years ago. They tinkered with the idea of building a system that allowed consumers to shop for a car from the comfort of their home. They tested the waters a bit, and indeed received the market validation later, but ultimately decided to focus on what they were being paid to do. When Ibarra left UPS back in 2000, he joined a courier/logistics company, one that focused primarily on the transport of specimens. It was at this time that he noticed many others in the industry using somewhat archaic methods of tracking the specimens.

But the time for Newton Insight hadn’t yet come. In late 2007, John called Gerard to see if he wanted to start a software company. It was a chance to start something again, but this time it was to see it through to the end. The timing was great as Gerard just received his PhD from SMU and was starting to look for a career. Instead, John and Gerard joined forces and in 2008 co-founded Buildwave Technologies, a log management and analysis company. They sold it in the fall of 2009.

So fast forward to 2011, and Gerard and John decided it was Newton Insight’s time for the spotlight. Their solution is designed to provide supply chain and logistics transparency, but offer the service at a fraction of the costs charged by UPS and FedEx by utilizing cloud computing and mobile technology. And Newton Insight isn’t merely handling the logistics, but it’s also serving as a conduit between all parties affected by the order, transport, and testing of the specimen.

This means not only the lab, hospital, or blood bank as the primary tier, but also the doctors, lab technicians, and of course, couriers. All would be able to view the delivery status and chain-of-custody of the specimen. Another uncommon service Newton provides is a predictive alert system, which can send a notice if it appears that a specimen will be late on arrival, not merely if it already is late. This forewarning enables the user to make better decisions and adjust accordingly based on the late arrival status. Newton’s advisers like the business model so much, that Newton is branching out of specimen transport into broader logistics fields.

Perhaps the biggest challenge Ibarra and Zurawski encounter in running the business is managing the cash burn. The sales cycle has turned out to take longer than expected. Many of the parties along this logistics chain-of-custody have old and established systems and processes and are part of large organizations. And, as many working in the corporate world know, it can be quite difficult to change the course of a ship in a short amount of time. There is a monthly service charge for their business depending on a variety of factors, like size, revenue, customer base, etc. In addition there is a fee for each transaction.

So now Newton Insight moves on to graduating from the Tech Wildcatters fall accelerator program. Based on advice on the TW mentors, Newton has expanded their target market, which shows the confidence they have in the market size, and the likelihood of being funded as they leave the program. They already have a courier as a paying beta customer, Jaguar Logistics. But Newton is still seeking a major lab, hospital, or blood bank as a beta tester. This will establish more market credibility in the logistics and transportation SaaS arena. It may seem a tough market. But I think the odds are stacked in Newton’s favor, considering the background experience they both have in logistics and supply chain. If they can establish key relationships, like they’ve done with the TW mentors throughout the program, their future looks very bright.

Be sure to check out Newton Insight as they give their final presentation of the TW program at “Pitch Day” next Tuesday. As of this writing, there are still spots available. You can register here. If you can’t make it in person, it will be live-streamed on the Tech Wildcatters site. It will also be on the Ustream homepage.

All online retailers know is it important to have a robust e-commerce platform that can collect vital customer information to be successful. Couple that with some sort of BI, and you’ve got some decent analysis tools to help you manage your store. But if your competitors have those same tools and sell the same products, how can you get an edge? And with all the available data on their database and floating around out there on the web, how can you manage it all and use it to your advantage?

Local Dallas startup Mineful aims to cut through the clutter and prove a rich interface that automates many of the menial tasks involved in customer analysis and retention. One of the major differences from others is it offers predictive analysis.  Whereas many tools offer hindsight analysis, Mineful looks at trends to predict the likelihood of a customer never returning to your store. You can create rule-based criteria which can trigger automated messages to be delivered to customers based on their probability of defection or some other behavior. It also has a self-learning feature which, based on measured success and past response rates from customers, can adapt on-the-fly to change subject lines or product offerings, for example.

Jaime Brugueras and Jose Rubio started the company in 2010. Jaime was a marketing consultant for major brands, but became unhappy witnessing all the meetings and analysis that resulted in inaction. Not surprising in large companies. He noticed all the inefficiencies in large companies between analytics and action, so he decided to do something about it and start his own company. His cousin Jose had been tearing down and rebuilding computers for a long time. He also was active in writing software, continually looking for ways to improve on what already existed.

Through his sister-in-law, who worked at Austin Ventures, Jaime became aware of the Tech Wildcatters seed accelerator program. He applied and was accepted into the fall program, a 12-week “bootcamp” that allowed Jose and him to meet and work with mentors to help them refine their strategy, as well as get advice on their elevator pitch for when they meet investors. Not only has Mineful been able to meet with mentors. But through their mentor’s networks, the team was able to meet with a gentleman named Dan Woodward. On the advice from Woodward and the TW mentors, they’ve adjusted their target customer from practically any company in any industry to only online retailers. This has helped them refine their product and value proposition to be more relevant to their market.

As the Mineful team graduates from the TW program, their biggest challenge will be raising funding. As we all know, it’s been a tough economy. Money isn’t flowing as freely as it once was. Jaime and Jose will need to continue growing their revenue stream and customer base, before investors will open their wallets. They are targeting small to medium-sized retailers and charge for their service based on the number of customers uploaded into the system. Currently more than 20 businesses are using Mineful to gain a competitive advantage and increase revenue per customer.

Be sure to check out Mineful as they give their final presentation of the TW program at “Pitch Day” next Tuesday. As of this writing, there are still spots available. You can register here. If you can’t make it in person, it will be live-streamed on the Tech Wildcatters site. It will also be on the Ustream homepage.

With the holiday season quickly approaching (although some would argue it’s already here), work will begin to share attention with seasonal planning and family. Activity tends to slow in offices, people start taking vacations, and so on. But a local North Texas entrepreneur has found himself a rather timely opportunity and is taking advantage of the season to start a brand new business.

Tory Smith has worked in a number of verticals, including banking, online dating, and most recently, online travel. One recent Christmas, Smith discovered how valuable “match-making” can be when applied to a seasonal and niche market. Case in point: He was hanging his Christmas lights on his house, and after getting frustrated during his effort, thought how much he’d rather pay someone to hang them than do it himself. As part of being a homeowner, he tended to work with plenty of contractors that come to the house to do the various things that need done or fixed around the house, like roofers, landscapers, pest control, etc.

But what happens with these traditionally warm weather workers when the cool season comes around? Smith discovered through conversations with them that many of them hung Christmas lights. Also noticing that nearly every house in the neighborhood got into the holiday spirit by putting up Christmas lights, Smith identified an opportunity.

Smith happened to be learning web design and online marketing at the time, and set about creating a lead generation site called DFW Lights matching Christmas light installers with homeowners, and taking a cut of the action. The company is now in it’s 6th year, and last season, during the 3 months surrounding Christmas, total revenues surpassed a quarter of a million dollars. And this is during the economically challenged times we call a down economy.

After attempting to clone the commission-based model in other large Texas markets such as Houston and San Antonio, he ran into challenges where some of his subcontractors were less than ethical; he caught contractors not reporting their work, and was not able to police their activity. So instead of giving up on the commission model, he decided to mimic an existing “pay-per-lead” model akin to Service Magic. This year in time for the holidays he launched Christmas Light Leads (CLL), the first online lead generation company 100% dedicated to the holiday lighting industry. Using a combination of over 25 local holiday lighting websites mixed in with SEO, SEM, and social media strategies, he captures information from homeowners and businesses seeking holiday lighting estimates and, based on zip code, routes them directly to the holiday lighting company in the area. Smith say what sets CLL apart from other lead generation services is how it doesn’t blast the leads to an unrealistic number of contractors, but rather, only sends the leads to the number of contractors the customer requests. “We realize many contractors have been burned by so called ‘lead generation services’. We’ve created a fair model where if a homeowners only wants two estimates in the 75225 zip code, then we only distribute that lead to 2 contractors in that area.” Smith continues, “If a company only wants to receive commercial leads, then they would not be sent a residential lead.” Smith doesn’t allow just anybody with a truck and ladder to subscribe to his service, he requires a minimum of 1 year of experience and proof of liability insurance.

As an experienced product manager, Smith already had a background in writing technical requirements, constructing wireframes, and drafting comps. He hired graphic design out of Singapore, data entry from the Philippines and a gifted development team out of Russia. In less than three months, his lean, global team launched the first online lead generation company dedicated to holiday lighting. Smith says, “I get my fix on being quick and nimble – I dream of some cool functionality for a niche, that in some way, makes life easier. I throw together the requirements and in a matter of days it’s built. Internet project broker services like Elance enable this to happen. This was not possible a decade ago.”

Smith is an avid fan of modern day marketing evangelists such as Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki and Gary Vaynerchuk. After fervently reading Godin’s The Bootstrapper’s Bible, Smith convinced himself he could launch a successful B2B business attracting companies from across the country. Digging into savings and using credit cards, Smith embarked on his first national B2B business. Just a few weeks old, Smith has already garnered support from top holiday lighting franchise Christmas Décor, which has endorsed the CLL program for all 260 of their franchisees.

Smith considers himself a digital marketing entrepreneur and his dream is to build an online lead generation model that is free for all service industries. “Many blue collar contractors and local small businesses are about 10 years behind the times. I want to educate them on effective lead generation and provide a free service to attract quality clients based on good, honest service.” He pitched his idea to the Dallas accelerator program Tech Wildcatters who selected Smith as a finalist. But after careful consideration, knowing his second child was to be born during the middle of the program, Smith withdrew his application at the final hour.

Stay tuned for this latest idea come springtime. I’ve already heard a lot about it and it seems ripe with potential in making the lead generation business more efficient. Smith plans on re-submitting the pitch to the Tech Wildcatters program early next year.

Tech Wildcatters is hosting another Find-A-Founder event this Friday from 5 to 7pm at the Tech Church in Uptown Dallas. Whether you have an idea and are looking for help, or are looking to join an exciting startup, this is the place for you! Heck, even if you want to just hang out and observe the abundant mojo in the room, please stop by! Click here for more detail.

One of the more interesting teams to come out of the most recent Startup Weekend Dallas created Most Epic Day. Their site and future iPhone app is designed to provide REM (reminders, entertainment, and motivation) to bring out the best in you at critical points in the day when you otherwise might struggle. Always tough getting out of bed, staying motivated during the day, or staying on a diet…they encourage you to take the MED approach and let them ‘dial you in.’  

The team made an impact during Startup Weekend when mid-presentation they used their call scheduling feature to cause the nearly 100 cell phones of audience members to buzz, beep and honk at the same moment with an incoming call from JJ, the Most Epic Day gopher mascot, delivering a well-timed inspirational message.

MED sends out “Natural Mood Enhancement”messages called ‘Boosts’ to user’s cell phones. Part of their strategy is to partner with companies like Anheuser-Busch and Weight Watchers under a white-label model called Boost Daily.  Boost Daily allows retail brands to improve retention and relevance in a consumer’s life through not-so-easily-ignored delivery methods.

Headed by Jared Green, Most Epic Day also boasts a pedigree of other respected players in the Dallas startup scene. Green himself runs Green Tree Equity, and is a mentor for Tech Wildcatters. James Jennings, who originally pitched the idea at the opening night of Startup Weekend, is CoFounder of NextPression, which develops smartphone apps based on lifestyle products. Gabriella Draney is Cofounder and Managing Partner of Tech Wildcatters. Daniel Knoodle is Cofounder and Chief Technology Director at Proxomo, and Jason Leblanc, a resident of CoHabitat and Founder of Rentology.com, augments the team with his design talent.

The application period for local B2B seed accelerator Tech Wildcatters is currently open until July 24th. If you’ve been working hard on your startup and are looking to take it to the next level then you should definitely consider applying for their third class, in which they will accept 7-10 companies.

What is Tech Wildcatters?

Tech Wildcatters is a mentorship-driven startup accelerator that puts participating companies through an intensive 12-week program. Startups receive up to $25,000 in seed funding in exchange for a small amount of equity (~6%) and have access to over 40 mentors with a wide range of experience and expertise.

Why Apply?

TW was ranked the #7 incubator/accelerator in the country. If you are working on a B2B startup, or it’s a major part of your strategy, then the TW mentors have the experience and contacts you need/want. TW offers up to $25,000 while many other similar programs only offer up to $18k. That little extra scratch can make a big difference at the earliest of stages.

Dallas is booming. Did you know the DFW metroplex has one of the highest growth rates in the country? There is also a large pool of talent who are bored at their day jobs and ripe for the picking.

How to apply

If you think you have what it takes, then you’ll want to head over to http://techwildcatters.com/apply/.

A couple quick tips… definitely watch the video on the application page for some good ideas on how to pitch your company. Take your time, make sure to re-read things and tell a compelling story. Word on the street is that app reviewers really like to see live products, but even solid mockups will get you bonus points. If all you have is an idea, you’re not likely to get accepted.

Important Dates

July 24^th, 2011          Application deadline.
July 27^th, 2011          Finalists for quick pitch day will be notified.
Aug 3rd, 2011            Fall quick pitch day.
Aug 10^th, 2011          Fall offers sent out.
Sept. 6^th, 2011           Fall orientation begins.
Dec. 8^th, 2011         Pitch Day!
Dec. 16^th, 2011          Fall program ends

Are you looking to find the co-founder of your dreams for your new startup? Then you’ll want to attend the Find A Founder event being hosted this Wednesday evening from 5pm-7pm at Tech Wildcatters.

Find A Founder essentially speed dating for people looking for co-founders. We all know that building a company on your own is a long, hard process and often times you alone don’t have all the necessary skills to get where you want to go. At this event, you’ll have a chance to meet a bunch of other people in a rapid-fire fashion, and see if there are any sparks.

Who knows, you just mind find the one you’ve been waiting for!

Don’t forget the free pizza and beer either! To register and get your free ticket visit http://findafounder2011.eventbrite.com/