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  1. 48Hour Launch Wrap-Up: Meet the Results Monday, November 16, 2009

    This weekend, CreateHere and SpringBoard had the great pleasure to host 48Hour Launch, an event aimed at sparking entrepreneurship regionally and launching at least one start-up over the course of two days. We’re pleased to announce that the weekend was a huge success, with over 100 participants building out seven unique projects. Here, we give you a brief write-up on each of those projects.

    John Prevost started Sunday night’s presentations with a brief demonstration of Flobuckle, a task-management system designed to serve small to medium sized creative agencies. Their goal? Make sure basic tasks aren’t “adding density to your day.” Flobuckle was launched through the teamwork of Steven Hill, Michael Snyder, Angel Brown, and Kyle Posey.

    Alex Lavidge of Knoxville Overground presented on behalf of his group, which worked in partnership with Knoxville-based jewelry designer Jennifer Ellison. Ellison’s handmade accessories evoke rock ‘n’ roll, and the team launched mStrandz, a visual identity and website for Ellison’s business. The site gives Ellison an opportunity to reach out to a broader audience, and within the next 5 years, she’d like to see her products compete in Atlanta’s difficult market. Additionally, mStrandz includes a community service component: a portion of all proceeds go to k-12 music appreciation programs in the Knoxville area.

    Jason Luna presented on behalf of his group, which included Daniel Santa Cruz and Eric Polino. Working an abbreviated launch session of just under 15 hours, the team was able to start development on All My Stitches, a social network aggregator.

    HyvMynd    , an ambitious project with several components, was developed by a larger team, many of which collaborated with other fellow 48Hour Launchers. Building on their platform, Brix, the company provides custom solutions for small businesses to facilitate the growth of buying local. HyvMynd’s platform includes a free barcode generating website for people looking to sell their products on consignment, which allows for better inventory tracking. Throughout the weekend, they developed a backend database, a website, and an iPhone application, all intended to help manage supply chain and promote local sales. Hyvmynd was developed by Aaron Welch, Sydney Hale, Daniel Appleget, Benjamin Bane, Joshua Estes, Ed King, Bob Leffew, Travis Harvey, and James Long.

    Lokewl     was developed in collaboration with team members from HyvMynd, who used this project as an example of how they hope to operate. Lokewl, a website and iPhone application, collects deals, sales, and coupons from local businesses exclusively. During the demonstration, Shultz expressed that the original goal of the project was to highlight local restaurants, but quickly they realized that “mom and pop” shops could benefit from this type of technology.

    James Long and his team used the weekend to continue development of an iPhone game called Farm Wars. This was one of Long’s first game development projects, and Farm Wars came away with a solid marketing and PR strategy to push the game into the market. He hopes to have it in the iPhone app store within the next couple of months.

    The final group to present was Chattanooga 3D, a non-profit project headed up by Stephen Culp and Karen Liwanpo of SmartFurniture. The team used the weekend to develop 3D renderings of downtown and Main Street, to be used by Google Maps. This open-source platform can be used by anyone, and added to by all: at the end of a demonstration, Culp announced that this will be a community-owned project. For more information, visit http://chattanooga3d.com.

    48HL was organized by SpringBoard, Knoxville Overground, Will This Float?, and Launch Memphis, four organizations specializing in entrepreneurship. The first 48HL coincides with the beginning of Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 16-20 and is made possible through generous support from local and national organizations. Sponsors include EPB, Mircrosoft’s BizSpark, the Chattanooga Technology Council, Angel Capital Group, Airnet, Slamdot, Spruz, Harwood, Launch Financial, the Chattanooga Choo Choo, SmartFurniture, Ackermann PR, Entrepreneurs of Knoxville, Technology 2020, and Estate of Confusion.

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