Venture for America Company Spotlight with TurboSquid, located in New Orleans, Louisiana:

TurboSquid is:

• The largest library of 3D products for sale in the world.
• A clearinghouse for digital artists to make money selling their content.
• A place to find premium plug-ins for 3D software applications.
• A forum for 3D professionals to exchange ideas.
• A production tool to help digital artists more rapidly find, preview and acquire essential content.

CheckMate Ambassador at TurboSquid, Michele Bousquet, tells us more:

1. Tell us about TurboSquid.

The original idea for an online marketplace began in 1995, with New Orleans natives Matt and Andy Wisdom envisioning a world where computing involved infinitely fast CPUs, infinitely big hard drives, and infinitely fast network speeds, but it wasn’t until 2000 that TurboSquid was founded. At the time, there were some other sites around for people to exchange 3D models, but TurboSquid was the first to set up a system for artists to buy and sell them. That year, the company was announced at Siggraph, the largest computer graphics conference in North America.

2. Name a fun fact about TurboSquid.

The digital 3D models on our site are often mistaken for real items! We even have a funny video about it:

                                   

3. What does your ideal Venture Fellow look like?

Passionate about computer graphics or a related field like game development. Love of creativity. Interested in coming up with, and discussing, wild and crazy ideas for expansion and promotion.

4. What does the daily office routine look like?

Come in. Brawl ensues in kitchen over bagels someone has brought in. Cream cheese everywhere! Meeting. Write some copy for a blog post. Nerf gun fight in next room, dodge a flying plastic disk. Look at sales statistics. Someone brought in one of those flying sharks and is flying it around in the hall. Meeting. Big argument with head of development over a new feature I want. He’s wrong, and I am going to prove it next meeting with a bunch of Analytics data. Ha! Chex mix. More work. Go home.

Additional thoughts and comments:

TurboSquid is a unique place. Most everyone here loves the graphics business, and we’re passionate about making the 3D world a better place.

To find out more about TurboSquid:

Web: http://www.turbosquid.com
FB: http://www.facebook.com/TurboSquid3DModels
Twitter: @TurboSquid
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TurboSquid

Venture for America Company Spotlight with Benzinga, located in Detroit, Michigan:

Benzinga is an innovative news and analysis service that focuses on global markets. Benzinga prides itself on providing original, accurate and timely global financial content every day. The service features content from industry experts and experienced analysts while also covering the news of the day.

Managing Director of Marketing at Benzinga, Sarah Knapp, tells us more:

1. Tell us about Benzinga.

Benzinga is a financial media company based out of Metro Detroit that currently serves over 3 million readers in over 125 countries every month. We      provide actionable trading and produce real-time tools to give traders and readers an edge that was once only available to the very elite.

Jason Raznick, a passionate entrepreneur, is the founder of Benzinga. After working at Merrill Lynch, Jim Cramer’s TheStreet.com, and Tricap Holdings, Jason discovered a niche in providing actionable trading ideas. In the first five months, Benzinga grew to over 50k active members. Since then, Benzinga has accepted a 1.5M investment from Lightbank, the founders of Groupon and have been growing rapidly.

Jason and Benzinga have been featured on Fox Business, CNBC the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.

2. Name a fun fact about Benzinga.

Benzinga is made up of energetic, fun-loving people who are looking to disrupt the norm. Our culture fosters creativity with a one-for-all, all-for-one attitude. The offices are a place where entrepreneurs can thrive in a fast-paced environment.

Starting the week with Monday morning meetings, the Benzinga team comes together to establish weekly goals and pass the “zinger of the week” football. This tradition allows the employee who was previously awarded the football to spotlight another team member who deserves to be recognized.

Each Friday we conclude the week by coming together and sharing the successes of individuals as well as the company as a whole. Other than the meetings, our staff shares successes by striking our Benzinga gong, serenading employees on their birthdays, and even partaking in some pretty competitive bake-offs.

3. What does your ideal Venture Fellow look like?

Our ideal Fellow has an insatiable crave to improve this world for the better. They see everything around them as an opportunity to change rather than just accepting things at face value. As a startup company we’re looking for someone who can contribute to the team in a big way by presenting their ideas, taking a project from start to finish and who is driven to succeed. We don’t want someone who wants to go to work, we want someone who wants to build, create and contribute to a company from the ground up.

Strong candidates should be familiar with the financial industry, have excellent writing abilities, be able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone and have a wicked ping pong serve.

4. What does the daily office routine look like?

Our team is made up of early risers, afternoon superstars and night owls. Starting things off with a strong pot of coffee, each day we strive to keep building.

Every day we are working to push the most unique content possible while creating relationships with new partners and customers. Our office is fun, yet busy and aggressive. Although we work hard every day, we always find time to bounce ideas off of each other and have a good time.

Additional thoughts and comments:

Life is too short to work at a boring company. Building at Benzinga is not for everyone. But if it is a good fit for you there is no place better to be. Carpe Diem!

If you’re ready for a challenge, have a real thirst to succeed and are up to a challenge, you’re someone we want to hear from.

To find out more about Benzinga:

Web: http://www.benzinga.com
FB: http://www.facebook.com/Benzinga
Twitter: @Benzinga

The second Venture For America application deadline has officially been moved back from February 15th, 2012 to February 20th, 2012!

We have made this change to accommodate those students whose spring semesters get off to a late start.

Applicants should apply online at www.ventureforamerica.org/apply.

We are happy to announce the addition of Mike Tarullo as the 4th Venture for America team member and full-time Director of Corporate Development. Mike is focused on working with start-ups to identify their talent needs and how VFA can help meet them.

Mike comes to us from Solvate, where he was the Director of Client Services helping companies find creative and digital professionals to fulfill assignments. Previously, Mike worked at a marketing firm and his own start-up after graduating from Duke. Mike has hit the ground running and has already been to Cincinnati, New Orleans and Providence to meet with several growth companies in these cities.

Click here to read Mike’s full bio.

Venture for America Company Spotlight with NuLabel Technologies located in Providence, Rhode Island:

NuLabel Technologies, Inc. is an adhesive and printer hardware technology company developing innovative label platforms to help companies cut cost and reduce waste. NuLabel has developed patent pending liner-free label technology that uses an activateable adhesive to eliminate the need for the liner.

One of the founders of Nulabel, Max Winograd, tells us more:

1. Tell us about Nulabel Technologies.

NuLabel began as a Brown University engineering project dedicated to solving the “liner problem.” As the two-semester project came to a close, Ben Lux – a polymer chemist, Mike Woods – an engineer, and Max Winograd – a political science major, saw a chance to start NuLabel and invent an innovative solution that changes the way the world uses labels. NuLabel participated in Betaspring’s inaugural program in 2009. After Betaspring, NuLabel worked out of the Rhode Island Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RICIE). In the summer and fall of 2010, NuLabel raised over $1.5 Million from angel investors. In March 2011, NuLabel relocated to a 4,000 SF R&D Facility in the Knowledge District in Providence and has since hired 10 new full time employees to accelerate the development of its liner-free label solution. Since then, NuLabel closed a second round of financing and is gearing up for field tests with some of the largest end users of labels in early 2012.

2. Name a fun fact about NuLabel Technologies.

We have a bunch: Every Tuesday during the spring, summer, and fall is BBQ Tuesday where we grill lunch for the whole team in our courtyard. During the winter, every Tuesday is Bagel Tuesday. We screened Office Space in honor of Labor Day Weekend, and team members surf with our accountant bright and early on the weekends. Our mantras are: “It Takes What It Takes”; “Fly Low, Fly Far”; “Prove Yourself Wrong”; and “Have a Vision. Be Demanding.”

3. What does your ideal Venture Fellow look like?

Our team consists of very entrepreneurial engineers and chemists. We are looking for problem solvers who thrive under the challenge of developing an innovative technology to solve a problem that has persisted for 80 years. For a mechanical engineer, a background in Solidworks and designing electro-mechanical systems are the most vital skills. For an electrical engineer, a background in Altium and circuit board layout and assembly are the most vital skills. And for a chemist or chemical engineer, a background in polymer chemistry, adhesives, coatings, and polymer analysis are great experiences to have.

 

4. What is the daily office routine like?

Our lab is grand central station at 7:30AM, but we don’t have an official start time. We’re here early and work late, and we bring in dinner for anyone that stays past 6:30PM. The adhesive and engineering teams have weekly rundown meetings to go through projects and discuss any updates on product development.

 To find out more about Nulabel Technologies:

Web: http://www.nulabeltechnologies.com/
Twitter: @NuLabel

Venture for America is proud to announce it has added Cincinnati, Ohio as an inaugural year host city!

To read more about this announcement, check out the Cincinnati Enquirer article here: Venture for America: Yes to Cincinnati

Venture for America Company Spotlight with Liveset located in New Orleans, Louisiana:

Established in 2010, Liveset is a digital platform presenting live concert events for the web and mobile devices in handsome HD. By placing artists at the center of their model and reimagining the production paradigm that exists around them, they aim to create a more intimate experience for their artists and the artists’ fans, all while raising the quality bar for online music content. Liveset was founded by Ross Hinkle, is based in New Orleans, LA, and is built by these fine folks.

Ross Hinkle tells us more:

1. Tell us about Liveset.

I was working for a private equity fund in New York focused on the media industry. I’d been working in finance since college because it was the best opportunity I had as I was graduating and looking for a job. As i was working in the media industry – trying to figure out where the industry was heading and what the opportunities were going to be over the next 3-5 years – it struck me that there was a tremendous opportunity in live streaming. Netflix was gaining enormous traction, as was Major League Baseball with their MLB.tv product, and most importantly, they were monetizing streaming with a subscription based business model in a very powerful way.

My question was – I know music fans who are at least as passionate, if not more so, about music as sports fans are about sports – shouldn’t there be a platform that exists for music fans to stream concerts live in very high quality, just as baseball fans were doing with MLB.tv? Why doesn’t this exist yet?

So I did a lot of homework, talked to a lot of people in the industry, convinced a group of investors to back the idea, quit my job, moved to New Orleans, and founded Liveset… and here we are today.

2. Name a fun fact about Liveset.

We like to think of ourselves as an up and coming band. We’re scrappy, hungry for success, focusing on making great art and not compromising, trying to build a fan base one at a time, every single day… eating, sleeping and dreaming music and digital design. We’re also trying to create something beautiful. We’re passionate about our craft and are constantly trying to create the best content for fans and the best experience for how they consume it. We know what it’s like to start small, to grow one step, one show at a time, and to chase the dream of being the next big thing that fans latch onto for life.

3. What does your ideal Venture Fellow look like?

First – a music fan. Second – a tech junkie.

We’d ideally like someone who understands that the future of the music industry is a vast wild west waiting for someone to make a dent. We want someone who’s just as passionate about making a dent on that landscape as we are. We’d like someone who thrives on the tech or social side of the web. We love the Internet and all the tools it’s capable of creating for the music & entertainment industries, so we’d love to work with someone who’s excited about brainstorming and thinking of new ways to harness these tools to help artists and fans.

As an ideal fellow: You understand that social sites like Facebook, Bandcamp, Tumblr, and Twitter are incredibly powerful for corralling an artist’s fans and for building a brand and you’re a big user as well. If you subscribe to Bob Lefsetz or Digital Music News or you dream of going to a Midnight Ramble – then it’s probably a safe bet we’re really going to get along.

You’re always trying out new digital products – you subscribe to MOG, Rdio or Spotify – hopefully Rdio.

You may even own a Roku, Apple TV, or Boxee box and have a lot of opinions on how online content will be consumed in the future.

4. What does the daily office routine look like?

We have a combination of morning people, afternoon-ers and night owls – so there’s always someone here – we just understand that we each work at different peak moments.

We are at our busiest and craziest when we are gearing up for events – and you’ll be there first hand to see every side of the business: artist relations, web design, payment flows, marketing tactics, the technicalities of getting a camera to capture beautiful content that will then be sent straight to fans online. What we do is is a lot harder than it looks, but it is definitely just as fun as it seems from the outside.

We have our highs and lows and that’s one of the most defining elements of our daily routine. One day we might be on the verge of working with a top act or an artist that we’ve loved since childhood or nearing the closing of a financing round …. to literally the next day not knowing when the next gig is going to come or how we’re going to keep ourselves afloat long enough to chase it. You’ve got to be able to roll with the punches, but you will have the opportunity to lend your ideas and your expertise to make a big impact on a small, but very cool company with big dreams.

5. Any additional thoughts or comments?

You must be dog friendly. We have a 95lb lab named Hank who’s a voracious music fan and loves the company. He likes to hang out here – a lot.

To find out more about Liveset:

Web: http://www.liveset.com/
FB: http://www.facebook.com/livesetstream
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/liveset
Twitter: @liveset

Guest Blog post by one of the first 2012 Venture for America Fellows, Derek Turner:

Detroit is the protagonist of two diverging stories presented by the media. In the first, the city plays the role of the tragic hero—a once-great entity now downtrodden and defeated, slowly letting out its final, labored breathes. In the second, Detroit is the vigorous underdog, coming to terms with its troubled past (and present) while striving boldly into the future among a chorus of nay-saying, seeking glory in the unknown.
I flew to Detroit for a weekend to understand which of these stories has a claim to reality, and I am convinced it is the latter.
My name is Derek – I’m a senior at Columbia University, a native Arizonan, and a person who pursues adventure when I see it. This past winter, when a friend visited the city and witnessed its distressed state, Detroit captured my attention. I could not shake the image of a city drained of inhabitants, with empty skyscrapers and vacant streets, yearning for cultivation and innovation. Like a slate made blank again, the city sounded like it was begging for someone to have the courage to write its new story—to paint its new future.
Perhaps it’s my Southwestern, frontier-minded roots, but I was utterly intrigued. I needed to see the place for myself. The first weekend in November happened to be a long weekend and I decided to check it out. Though I didn’t know anyone in Detroit, I had to see if the city was really playing host to young people with huge visions of entrepreneurship, industry, and revitalization. Armed with a couple contacts from VFA’s generous President Andrew Yang, I got on a plane to the Motor City.
Driving into the city, the more pessimistic version of Detroit’s story seems the more credible. On the blocks that aren’t barren of buildings, there are boarded-up windows, sagging porches, and dilapidated homes. And that’s before the Michigan Central Station—that empty icon of blight—comes into view. The city is definitely hurting, and every abandoned building adds to the chorus of despair.
But as they say, looks can be deceiving—and in Detroit they certainly are. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find what I found: a small but incredibly passionate community of individuals who have dedicated their work to bringing the city back from the brink. Over the course of the weekend, I was invited to meet with people like Jake Cohen, Vice President of Detroit Venture Partners, and Dan Izzo, the Training and Launch Chief of Bizdom U, an incubator.
People like Jake and Dan don’t cover up the reality of Detroit. They don’t dress up and explain away the bleakness. No—instead they outline how this moment of vulnerability for the city is the perfect fodder for greatness. And it’s not all talk—in the same breath they point to massive building renovations, successful startups, and big business transplants to downtown that have already happened. To them, Detroit’s best days lie ahead, and with enough work they will turn the bitter soil of today into old-school American prosperity tomorrow.
Of course, the work will be long and success isn’t guaranteed. To bring a city like Detroit back to health is a generational endeavor, but they’ve already made progress and they have the energy necessary to go in for the long haul. With some help from other dedicated people who are committed to giving Detroit sustained success, the vision really could materialize. They sound a little crazy, but what pioneer ever sounded sane?
Spend a couple minutes talking with the community behind the appearance and you will find that Detroit is ripe for progress. That’s why Venture for America is so exciting to me—a couple dozen Fellows could be trailblazers into this prosperous future. Detroit is on the starting block, not the chopping block, and it just needs some people to work for and believe in its success. In Venture for America, Detroit may have found its most promising advocate. I can’t wait to see how that second story—the story of optimism and glory—pushes out the nay-sayers. When it does, VFA Fellows will be leading the charge.