By Charlie Szold
AUSTIN, Texas – In the 1840s, speculators panned in rivers to find elusive gold bits that could make them rich overnight. In the 21st century, hardworking entrepreneurs toil over code and user interfaces to create the next billion-dollar business. Some do it to change the world, others do it to get rich. Most do it for a little bit of both.
We had a chance to talk with seven entrepreneurs on Saturday at Tech Cocktail’s #Startuplife celebration at the South by Southwest festival in Austin. We asked them to give us their “elevator pitches,” the 30-second speech they would give to a big-time venture capitalist or the American public if given the chance. Check out the videos above to see their answers.
Brian Wong – Kiip
Kiip is an app add-on that unobtrusively rewards achievements in that app. You can win real world rewards for your virtual actions.
Says founder and CEO Brian Wong: “When you’re playing games, mobile ads are annoying and interruptive. What if you could level-up, hit an achievement, say in Angry Birds or something like that, and get a free latte from the Starbucks across the street?”
Website: http://kiip.me/
Aza Raskin – Massive Health
Massive Health created “The Eatery,” an app that lets you take pictures of your food and rank it as healthful or unhealthful. By consistently ranking your food you can keep a better eye on your good or bad habits.
Website: http://massivehealth.com/
Sam Zebarjadi – Zamp
Zamp aims to make flying social by letting you connect with other nearby travelers, find friends or soon-to-be friends on your flight and even get tips left by others. Zamp can even get you access to travel lounges.
SweetLabs – Chester Ng
SweetLabs brings media-rich Web applications to your desktop. You don’t settle for bad user experiences on your smartphone or tablet, so why should you settle for them on your desktop?
Says co-founder Chester Ng: “We are aiming to reinvent the PC” with a new app platform called Pokki that brings a “modern iOS-like app experience to the desktop.”
Ketan Anjaria – Card Flick
CardFlick lets you create digital business cards using Facebook or Instagram photos. Design your cards and then effortlessly share them with others smartphone to smartphone.
Shane Green – Personal.com
Personal.com thinks your personal data (the kind jealously collected by tech companies) is worth gold. It also thinks you shouldn’t just give it away. Use Personal.com to decide who gets to see your data and when you’d like to share it.
Logan Lahive – Belly
Belly wants to do away with the hundreds of loyalty programs that customers accumulate at different businesses. Belly wants just one loyalty program to connect you to all your favorite neighborhood stores.
Website: http://www.bellycard.com/
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