By Mary Whitfill, News Correspondent
BzzAgent, a local social marketing company founded by Dave Balter, is hosting a session at the upcoming FutureM marketing conference called the Boston Angel Shark Tank, where investors will get the opportunity to check out local start-up companies. Competing for a chance to be snatched up by a local shark are five ventures from Northeastern’s IDEA program, all hoping to get the financial jump-start needed to make their business a success.
The BzzAgent version of the Shark Tank, based on the hit ABC show, was created to put entrepreneurs to the test and give out up to $100,000 to worthy beginner businesses on the spot. NU student start-ups will represent with companies ranging from business management to technology expansion and instrument customization.
“Running your own start-up is all about decisions,” IDEA CEO and senior business major Christopher Wolfel said. “I think the ‘Shark Tank’ simulation is a good decision [for IDEA students] for a few reasons. First, they can generate some exposure and then more importantly, if they are able to attract capital at an equity amount that makes sense, they will be able to grow their company faster.”
Sean Naegeli, a 2011 industrial engineering graduate, and Lyle Stevens, a 2009 business school graduate, recently created Apifia, a company aimed at creating useful social applications. Their current and first venture, SplashScore, has created a way to score comments and likes on Facebook profiles.
“Social media sites are the most used sites on the Internet right now, so we want to encourage people to step up their online social influence,” Stevens said. “The more points someone has on SplashScore, the more their social influence. With the points people earn, they can win product rewards such as gift cards and discounts or donate to their favorite charity.”
Trying to get the word out about their new venture as much as possible, Stevens and Naegeli have created the Facebook Beanpot. The goal of the online event is to pit 10 Boston schools against each other to see who can get the best scores on posts related to each school. Each day, SplashScore will be giving out iTunes gift cards to one randomly selected player and at the end of the event, the player with the highest overall score will receive an iPhone 5.
“Our biggest goal for the company is to hire some additional developers; expansion is really something we are looking into,” Stevens said. “We would really like to increase our marketing and get the word out about our app and [the Shark Tank] is the right mix of people attending the event and it is geared towards our ultimate goals.”
Also competing in the Shark Tank is Phoebe Farber, a senior business major who created Prospective Plus, a common job application for entry-level applicants.
“Prospective Plus is really focused on providing more information for employers about applicants that they may not know based on just a resume,” Farber said. “Hiring systems aren’t normally extremely efficient, and this addresses a lot of those broken parts.”
The job application is split into multiple parts, giving employers a chance to look at their prospective employees in a new light. The common application, resume and references are all a part of the process, but Prospective Plus also gives applicants the ability to choose where they would fit in best based on things such as the company culture, size and location in relation to their job place preferences.
This year, Farber launched Prospective Plus at the DEMO Conference in Santa Clara, Calif. The event, hosted annually by International Data Group (IDG), showcases new companies as well as new products from previously established businesses.
“I think [Prospective Plus] is a paying point for everyone,” Farber said. “I like the idea of pitching and getting in front of investors and I think my chances of getting recognized [at Shark Tank] are higher than if I walked into a venture capital firm and asked for money.”
Moniker Guitars, a start-up based on making customized guitars affordable and efficient, is another IDEA project that will be making its case to investors at the Boston Angel Shark Tank. Dave Barry, a 2006 graduate with music industry and business degrees, launched Moniker with high school friend Kevin Tully, a Syracuse law graduate.
Launched in late spring of this year, Moniker is a combination of mass production and customer sonalization. Aimed at allowing people to have a professionally made guitar in a timely manner and at an affordable cost, Barry and Tully have created the first guitar company of its kind.
“Moniker came from what other companies with a mass customization business model have,” Tully said. “Take a product that can be made in mass numbers but allow the customer to customize it – sort of like Nike ID, but with a quick turn-around time.”
Earlier this summer, Tully and Barry entered Moniker into “Speed Dating for Startups,” a 30-second pitch contest sponsored by Samsung and Thrillist, where it progressed to the national semi-finals.
“The main thing we are trying to do right now is get investments,” Barry said. “IDEA was great in helping us get off the ground, we are getting orders and things like that, but we have never launched a full scale marketing campaign and we would like to have one in time for the holidays.”
Also competing is 2011 technological entrepreneurship graduate student Tina Wang, who teamed up with business school guest speaker Gregory Fitzgerald to launch Upgrade Journey, a company aimed at helping Chinese students get the most out of their time in America.
“We’re a combination of Groupon, Expedia and Facebook for students,” Fitzgerald said. “We are trying to let Chinese students travel in a way that hasn’t been possible before by offering them travel coupons and allowing them to customize their trip and make affordable plans.”
By partnering with third-party vendors to gain access to discounted concert and sport tickets, as well as about 130 local vendors who offer tourist services, Upgrade Journey is able to provide an exclusive travel experience. The company is also a place where Chinese students looking to travel together can connect, similar to a demographic-specific Facebook.
“We are hoping [Shark Tank] will enable us to create more real time options for the program,” Fitzgerald said. “We want users to be able to change their plans at the last minute if need be and then to provide more options for things to do in the area. We really just want to expand and give people more options.”
Another IDEA project entering the competition is PreApps, a website that allows users to preview the newest applications before they hit the mobile world. Founder Sean Casto, a senior pursuing a degree in entrepreneurship, was unavailable for comment, but more information can be found at preapps.com.
FutureM’s marketing conference takes place today, with “sharks” including representatives from TechStars Boston, Actifio, Game Show Network (GSN) and Atlas Venture.
