TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

Entrepreneurial Law Firm  Gray Plant Mooty (Returning)

Local Hosting Provider ipHouse (R)

Software Designers & Developers The Nerdery (R)

Student Employer & Staff Augmenter Maverick Software Consulting (New)

Application Investor & Distributor W3i (R)

Public Relations Agency Bellmont Partners (N)

Web & Mobile Developers Bust Out Solutions (R)

Accounting & Financial Services Firm WellAdvised (R)

Talent Acquisition Specialist Andcor (N) (Calendar)

IT Workforce Development Nonprofit Advance IT Minnesota (N) (Directory)

**Contact us for information about how to become a TECHdotMN sponsor**

By Mike Derheim, Sierra Bravo / The Nerdery

“When Luke’s plane went missing I told our staff I would do my best to communicate with them as openly as he always has. In so many ways, Luke is a tough act to follow – but in keeping with his tradition of publicly sharing staff memos – when appropriate – on our blog, here’s the note I sent to Nerdery staff last Friday.

Like many of you, I’ve been re-reading emails from Luke. I’ve spent a good amount of time doing this. This is time I won’t get back and wouldn’t if I could. After going over contingency plans and meeting with our executive team, we’ve decided that I will have the tall order of taking over as Nerdery CEO.”

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By Bob Geiger, Finance and Commerce

“Amid all the depressing jobs and employment reports issued lately, it’s good to find that one interactive firm has actually increased its staff size this year by 50 percent.

That rapid expansion, from 100 in January to an expected 150 positions with expected hires by Oct. 25, involves interactive marketing and software development firm The Nerdery.“

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Greetings – a quick update on things happening at TECHdotMN which our readers should know about:

Sponsors

StartupShoppe joins Gray Plant Mooty, The Nerdery, ipHouse, Marcato Partners, W3i and WellAdvised as site sponsors;  Bust Out Solutions is our new calendar sponsor. 

THANK YOU SPONSORS!

Calendar

We implemented a new calendar today to allow for deeper integration with the rest of the site. From design to data, the purpose is to make for a better experience all-around.  There are new ical & xml subscriptions for this calendar feed as the old ones will be phased out soon (see comment below). Drop us a note if you find a bug and send your Minnesota tech events here for posting.

Weekly Digest

Based on feedback, we’ve changed the frequency of our email digest from monthly to weekly.  If you’re not already subscribed you can drop your email address in the box on the right to receive a recap of the previous weeks headlines and upcoming weeks events.

Giving Back

100% of the gross revenue from our first round of sponsors is being re-invested into the community 50% going towards under-served youth in technology and 50% into a new Minnesota startup.  Moving ahead, 51% of TECHdotMN’s gross revenues are going into a youth technology initiative.  We’ll be announcing the details soon, but in the meantime contact us if you or someone you know has an interest in helping Minnesota youth become more technologically literate.

Stay tuned & have a nice weekend,

The TECHdotMN team

Inc., the magazine “written for the people who run growing companies” recently released it’s annual ranking list of the country’s top 5,000 fastest-growing, private companies with an emphasis on the top 10 percent of the list—the Inc. 500.

“The Inc. 5000 is ranked according to [self-reported] percentage revenue growth over a four year period. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of the starting calendar year, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31 of the last year measured. Revenue in the initial year must have been at least $200,000, and revenue in the most recent year must have been at least $2 million.”

We’ve identified 20 Minnesota product-based technology companies (Software – 8; Security – 2; Telecom – 4; eCommerce – 3; Misc – 3) that made the list based on revenue gains.  Including “IT Services/ Consulting”, the list increases by 15 — marking a cumulative representation of around 35 Minnesota Tech companies (depending on exact definition).

Jobs2Web (#226), ranked fourth overall in the Minneapolis market and 21st in all of software, leads the Minnesota high tech list with three-year sales growth of over 1,300%!

The information below provides a unique glimpse inside some of Minnesota’s fastest growing privately held high tech companies, according to Inc.. Enjoy…

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By Julio Ojeda-Zapata, St. Paul Pioneer Press

“Visitors to Izzy’s Ice Cream Cafe in St. Paul will notice something new this summer — and it’s not the parlor’s latest creamy concoctions.

Colored dots projected onto a wall will show customers at a glance which flavors are available. When a dot winks out of existence, the flavor has run out. But new dots materialize as the corresponding ice cream tubs are dropped into place.”

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via The Nerdery,

“From 9 a.m. Saturday until 9 a.m. Sunday, 159 volunteer web developers will donate more than 3,800 hours of professional services to 16 Minnesota nonprofit organizations selected for The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge.

“For the third year in a row we openly challenged the entire Twin Cities web development community to force us into choosing only the 12 most qualified teams; after careful consideration we chose 16,” said Luke Bucklin, president of Nerdery Interactive Labs, a division of Twin Cities-based Sierra Bravo. “We at The Nerdery have never been more proud to be part of this awesome interactive community.”

These 16 web development teams will spend most of this weekend creating free websites for these nonprofits.”

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via The Nerdery

“What: Prior to the March 20-21 Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge, representatives from the 16 selected nonprofits and teams of volunteer web developers will gather Thursday, Feb 25 to prep for their 24-hour experience. http://www.overnightwebsitechallenge.com/

When: Thursday, Feb. 25, 6-9 p.m.: 6-7 – Group Q&A and brief advisory remarks from volunteers and nonprofits with previous Challenge experience; 7-8:20 – Speed-dating; needy meets nerdy as volunteers make the rounds to visit reps from each nonprofit for five minutes; 8:20-9 – Social time

Who: http://www.overnightwebsitechallenge.com/nonprofits
http://www.overnightwebsitechallenge.com/teams

Where: Benchmark Learning (event sponsors) 510 West 77^th St. in Edina, MN”

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by The Nerdery

“Nerdery Interactive Labs (The Nerdery) today announced 16 nonprofit organizations selected for The Nerdery Overnight Website Challenge, the web development firm’s volunteer-driven 24-hour event.

With heavy interest from volunteers, The Nerdery invited 16 web development teams – rather than 12 as planned – to spend the weekend of March 20-21 creating free websites for these nonprofits:”

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