TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

By Nick Nelson

Have you ever ordered an item at a restaurant because the image and description on the menu were irresistibly appetizing, only to learn upon being served that what you’ve ordered looks nothing like it did in the picture?

You got duped…and it happens to all of us.

But it shouldn’t, believes Farhan Muhammad, owner of the Minneapolis-based firm Fusion Room. Their new “innovation lab” team has launched a mobile app called I Got Duped that empowers customers to fight back against misleading advertisements in the restaurant industry.

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After weeks of waiting, Minneapolis startup 8thBridge has officially launched Graphite. Described as many different things over the course of today’s livestream event led by CEO Wade Gerten, in the simplest sense, Graphite is a suite of plugins built for the next generation of social commerce.

Of course, there are nuanced complexities to which Gerten calls it, “The most innovative thing happening in social commerce since we started the category in 2009.”

“The future of e-commerce is around people, not products…and we’ve learned a lot about what’s working and what’s not on this mission to reshape commerce around people,” he admits in the first minutes, pointing to his controversial (since removed) ‘F-commerce gets an F’ quote in the Bloomberg article that he would later rebut on Forbes.

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A new co-working space for techies, entrepreneurs and digital creatives is taking over the 5th floor of the historic DeWitt-Seitz Building on the harbor of Lake Superior in Duluth’s Canal Park.

Short on demand for the furniture and mattresses which the edifice was built for in 1909, new industry pioneers Martin Sawinski and Jacob Nelson see Co.Lab as the North Shore’s warehouse for collective brain power capable of manufacturing new tech startups in the region.

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Igor Epshteyn founded Minneapolis-based tech consultancy Coherent Solutions 16 years ago with the purpose of helping technology ventures solve, scale and develop their software products and businesses. Today, he’s still a developer, but has since become a Radical CEO.

While building his business from the ground up to 250 employees across three offices — Epshteyn has ran, biked and swam some of the hardest races known to man.

Epshteyn migrated to the United States from Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, in 1992, only a few months after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Times were changing, and despite having already starting two successful businesses there by the age of 21, Epshteyn decided he wanted more stability in his life.

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Via News Release

“MINNEAPOLIS, April 19, 2012 — 8thBridge, Inc. announced today it was recognized by the Facebook® Preferred Marketing Developer (“PMD”) team as a Facebook PMD. 8thBridge’s acceptance into the Facebook PMD program follows an extensive review process by the PMD team.”

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Via News Release

“The Nerdery today became a Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) of Facebook® Apps. Facebook established its PMD program to represent the various technologies in the Facebook ecosystem and to recognize companies that develop holistic solutions. To qualify, The Nerdery included examples of its development work on the Facebook platform in its application, including apps created – some with ad agency partners – for EA Sports, Kraft, Norton, Purina, and Tampico.”

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Via Star Tribune

“Brett Keirstead’s passion for building and managing sales teams has led him a new position as vice president of sales at Knowledge Marketing, an on-demand software services company in Bloomington. Keirstead said he is enjoying the opportunity to build and manage the sales organization at Knowledge Marketing, which has offered e-mail marketing and interactive marketing for close to a decade.

He had helped formalize sales efforts over the past four years as vice president of sales at Jobs2web, a job recruitment software maker in Minnetonka. Prospects changed in December, when that company was acquired by SuccessFactors Inc., which makes human resources software and was simultaneously acquired by German software giant SAP.”

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By Elizabeth Millard, Finance and Commerce

“Matthew Dornquast launched his career by becoming one of the first shareware producers in the world and soon landing a job at tech haven Control Data. Then he graduated from high school.

So it’s no surprise that Dornquast’s latest venture, Code 42 Software, is one of the most notable technology ventures in the state.”

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Via Kare 11

“MINNEAPOLIS – Facebook is making its biggest purchase ever. The social networking company is spending $1 billion to buy the photo-sharing software company Instagram.

News of Facebook’s mega-deal is inspiring Twin Cities companies and entrepreneurs to hit it big like Instagram. All it takes is one idea. Question is: Where do you go from there?”

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By Nataleeya Boss, Twin Cities Business

“The Mill is a new collaborative workspace that gives members access to tools and equipment that they don’t have access to at home, including 3-D printers, computers with design and drafting software, industrial sewing machines, and a metal shop.

There is a new collaborative workspace in town for entrepreneurs, artists, engineers, and anyone who likes to build, modify, or repair.”

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Two thumbs up for those who financially support the TECHdotMN mission!

These sponsors underwrite the news, storytelling and data that serves the Minnesota tech community. A portion of their sponsorship goes directly to helping local youth increase their digital literacy.

And, of course, they also put their brands in front of a very localized & niche audience

Primary

 
Entrepreneurial Law Firm Gray Plant Mooty

Student Employer & Staff Augmenter Maverick Software Consulting

Custom Software Developer MentorMate

World Class Backup Provider Code 42 Software
 

Secondary

 
Web & Mobile Developers Bust Out Solutions

CPA and Financial Consulting Specialist CliftonLarsonAllen

Graduate Programs in Software at the Univervsity of St. Thomas

Interactive Solutions Creator Fusion Room
 

Other

 
Talent Acquisition Specialist Andcor (jobs)

Coworking and Collaborative space CoCo MSP (events)

Social Media agency RSP Marketing (directory)

Landing page pro’s LaunchRock (beta byte)

Minneapolis B2B tech communications team Weber Shandwick (link)

Business plan competition Minnesota Cup (link)