Dave Speers is an online marketing consultant and start-up junky that has worked with a wide variety of Philadelphia businesses. Dave spends most his time annoying really smart people at Indy Hall co-working collaborative.
Tag: Business
Phillypreneurs Live @ Founder Factory 2008
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November 12, 2008
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Dave Speers is an online marketing consultant and start-up junky that has worked with a wide variety of Philadelphia businesses. Dave spends most his time annoying really smart people at Indy Hall co-working collaborative.
There’s Nothing Little About Philly Startup LTLprints.com
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November 11, 2008
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About LTLprints:LTLprints provides custom life-sized, self-adhesive prints to the U.S. and the U.K. Customers may upload images via LTLprints.com, including their own personal photos, snapshots, and artwork. All prints are made to order, removable and reusable, and available in three different sizes for purchase. The prints are tear resistant and safe for nearly any wall.
Everyone enjoys a change in décor once in a while, but may be hesitant about the commitment of a permanent solution such as wallpaper or paint. A new trend in wall décor is arriving in the U.S. with the launch of Philadelphia based LTLprints.com, where customers can add “Larger Than Life” self-adhesive prints to walls with the comfort of knowing each print is removable and reusable. All prints are customizable and add a touch of personality to any space. “We’re excited to show off this great new site and expose Philadelphia to a great innovation in wall decoration,” said Kendall Schoenrock, LTLprints President and co-founder.
The decision to launch LTLprints.com in Philadelphia was inspired by Schoenrock’s education at Villanova University and past entrepreneurship success in Conshohocken, PA. Schoenrock was the top performing sales associate and angel investor in TurnTide, an anti-spam service provider acquired by Symantec in 2004. Since his departure from TurnTide, Schoenrock has been an angel investor and consultant for numerous other startups in the Philadelphia area. Schoenrock’s partner and LTLprints.com CEO is Carsten Petzold. Petzold, former chief operating officer of Spreadshirt.com, is a native German and fellow angel investor. Petzold and Schoenrock co-founded LTLprints in September 2008, joining forces after enjoying individual success with similar startup firms, Spreadshirt.com and Wallhogs.com. Their previous experience and shared vision of unique, customizable printing led them to start LTLprints.com, bringing excitement and a personal touch to the walls of homes and businesses across America.
LTLprints are a fun new twist on wall décor. Each print is custom made, and will stick to almost any flat surface. LTLprints can be moved around, pulled off one wall and pressed to another, and will easily come apart if accidentally stuck together. The print leaves no mark or residue on the wall, and will stick to the new surface with no trouble. The process is simple. Customers digitally upload their picture or design, answer a few quick questions, and LTLprints will ship within 72 hours of purchase.
Though similar products and services such as www.Fatheads.com are available in the oversized graphics market, LTLprints distinguishes itself through the unique customization tools available. Competitor websites have catalogs and licensed persons available for purchase; LTLprints allows you to upload your own images or shop via the online catalog. All catalog images can be altered, edited, and customized per order. The ability to personalize and alter each image allows LTLprints.com to stand out in this niche market. “We’re ready to make Philadelphia walls more fun,” said Petzold.
Entrepreneur, Statesman, diplomat, educator, inventor, author, printer, philosopher, scientist, shopkeeper, musician, economist, public servant and American hero.
Why am I smiling on a Monday Morning? (HINT: it has nothing to do with the Phils)
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November 3, 2008
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Despite the euphoria of the past week, not even the first official Monday of the Phillies reign as World Champions was enough to cancel out the weekly weekend withdraw. No, it would take something just as exciting but a little more personal to chase away a chronic case of the Mondays. Something like this note from our friend John Valentine over at Philly startup Tapinko :
“I just wanted to follow up and thank you for the awesome press you gave us. Within a couple days of the Phillypreneurs TapInko post, we received some unsolicited phone calls from investors on both coasts interested in feeling us out for potential investments. The blog has amazing breadth in readership! TapInko is still going strong as we continue down the LORE, BFTP, and angel funding paths.”
We obviously can’t take credit for any of Tapinko’s success but it does a blogger good to know that our little passion could be apart of helping others pursue their’s, so much good that the smile that’s stretched across this face might last long enough to make a dent in next week’s inevitable Monday too. Here’s to continue success in Tapinko.
Dave Speers is an online marketing consultant and start-up junky that has worked with a wide variety of Philadelphia businesses. Dave spends most his time annoying really smart people at Indy Hall co-working collaborative.
Philly startup Snirch wants you to have a piece of the Search pie.
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October 29, 2008
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Snirch (http://www.snirch.com) announced the launch of a groundbreaking search engine that provides relevant search results created by real people, not algorithms. Unlike other human-powered search engines, Snirch shares its advertising revenue with search experts who provide well thought-out result pages for relevant search terms. This unique revenue-sharing model empowers regular people to tap into the search advertising market that is projected to grow to $37 billion by 2011.
The site creates an attractive opportunity for anyone with subject-matter expertise, web research skills and a little creativity to build home-based businesses by writing search content. Snirch estimates that certain keywords currently monetize in excess of $1,000,000 in annual advertising revenue. “There is a lot of money in search” said co-founder Michael Ross, “which translates into great income potential for our contributors.” In exchange for researching and compiling relevant content for popular search terms, the company plans to share 50% of its advertising revenue with its experts.
Launched in Philadelphia, Snirch was recently accepted into the Wharton School’s Venture Initiation Program, which provides guidance and resources to aspiring entrepreneurs. The company is currently running an alpha-stage site that allows search content creation on an invite-only basis. Snirch looks forward to recruiting experts in various fields to expand its user-generated database of search results.
Snirch is a Philadelphia-based company providing a highly relevant, human-generated search results through a community of highly motivated experts in various fields.
Entrepreneur, Statesman, diplomat, educator, inventor, author, printer, philosopher, scientist, shopkeeper, musician, economist, public servant and American hero.
Philadelphia, have you met Tapinko?
posted
September 25, 2008
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No? Well then, let me be the first to introduce you:
What is Tapinko?
Tapinko is an online management SAS for purchasing and managing a variety of offline ads (e.g. multiple newspapers, billboards, text messages, etc). In other words, Tapinko is an offline ad management application. Tapinko has initially focused on the college Newspaper market, including UPenn, Harvard and Tufts. It’s one of the early stage start ups to graduate from the first DreamIt class at the beginning of the month.
Who is Tapinko?
Peter Groverman (Co-founder), Nicolas Warren (Co-founder) and John Valentine (Corporate Development). Peter first felt the need to simplify offline ad management as a student. After only being able to sell eight months of advertising for a twelve month calendar, Peter realized that there had to be a much better way to sell offline advertising, whether it be newspaper, billboards or urinal ads. Bingo (insert light bulb), create an intuitive and user friendly market place for offline ads online. After some prodding from his friends and family, Peter embraced his entrepreneurial passion and recruited his friend, and web guru, Nic Warren to start work on what would become Tapinko. It wasn’t until after his first year of Villanova Law school and recruiting a promising classmate, John Valentine, that Peter was ready to make an all or nothing bet on Tapinko.
Who do they have to beat?
Google Print Ads, Google Audio Ads, Google TV Ads, Tactician,
How are they different?
Instead of embracing the obvious broker model of connecting publishers and businesses directly, and therefore cutting out the traditional and entrenched sales reps, Tapinko has created a tool set that existing ad sales teams (or anyone) can use to organize and execute their buys.
How are they paying for it?
Friends, Family, DreamIt and Visa cards are at the ready if it comes to it. Now that’s the sound of an entrepreneur who’s got the start-up bug! Before it comes to that though, they are actively pursuing Angel and VC funding.
Peter Groverman pitching on DreamIt funding day.
To the whole Tapinko team we wish you the best of luck and look forward to hearing about your many successes!
Dave Speers is an online marketing consultant and start-up junky that has worked with a wide variety of Philadelphia businesses. Dave spends most his time annoying really smart people at Indy Hall co-working collaborative.
