TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

Beta Byte is a new series for the early stage tech that lies somewhere between idea and traction. Equally exciting & raw.  Are you in this phase?

What is the name of the company and/or product?

Rock Your Block

What is the customer value proposition? What business problem is being solved?

Teen unemployment rates in the US are currently at an all-time high, upwards of 25-35%. Multiple research studies indicate that high levels of unemployment during the teen years increase the difficulty of transitioning to part-time and full-time employment in the late teens and early twenties, as well as reduce future wage and earnings potential.

Rock Your Block solves this problem by offering a safe and convenient way for teenagers to find jobs in their community. Teens are given the opportunity to develop skills necessary to become independent, self-sufficient adults: searching for work, building a resume, handling job interviews, and developing good time and money management. Rock Your Block is the first mobile and Facebook-integrated application that leverages teens’ existing networks by providing a platform to search and apply to job postings in their community.

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Beta Byte is a new series for the early stage tech that lies somewhere between idea and traction. Exciting. Awkward. Raw.  Are you in this phase?

What is the name of the company and/or product?
Scout

What is the customer value proposition? What business problem is being solved?
To get answers with Google faster. You can view 5 results in 5 clicks, and that’s power. You don’t have to constantly use the back button to view other search results, or open everything in a million tabs. It’s just incrementally easier.

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Beta Byte is a new series for the early stage tech that lies somewhere between idea and traction. Exciting. Awkward. Raw.  Are you in this phase?

What is the name of the company and/or product?

Twinkle Trail

What is the customer value proposition/ what business problem is being solved?

Finding and sharing the locations of holiday light displays.

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Beta Byte is a new series for the early stage tech that lies somewhere between idea and traction. Exciting. Awkward. Raw.  Are you in this phase?

What is the name of the company and/or product?

Fitparel

What is the customer value proposition? What business problem is being solved?

Fitparel.com takes the guessing-game out of size selection when purchasing clothes online. You enter the size of an item that you know fits well and we recommend similar items based on its dimensions. We indicate the size of the apparel you need to purchase and also the quality of fit between the fits-me-well item and the similar item.

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Beta Byte is a new series for the early stage tech that lies somewhere between idea and traction. Exciting. Awkward. Raw.  Are you in this phase?

What is the name of the company and/or product?

Jam’s Space

What is the customer value proposition? What business problem is being solved?

Jam’s Space connects Reggae/Rock Fans to Bands (and Bands to Fans) via multiple features found within our website. Some of these features include: Jam’s Space Radio – A commercial free Online Radio which was included as iTunes first Reggae/Rock Stream on Jan. 24th (2011) and Jam’s Space On Demand – A cloud-based, commercial-free feature that allows individual fans to be the ‘DJ’ by selecting from thousands of hand-selected songs.

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Beta Byte is a new series for the early stage tech that lies somewhere between idea and traction. Tough. Awkward. Raw.  Are you in this phase?

What is the name of the company and/or product?

Cognific

Where is it (or will it be) found online?

www.cognific.com

What is the customer value proposition? That is, what business problem is being solved?

Cognific makes life easier for both healthcare providers and patients through a system that offers education, therapy and accountability. Cognific offers mental health activities prescribed by the doctor to the patient in a fun gaming format, while also an analytics platform for their therapist where they receive the results of the games in real-time.

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