Startup Spotlight: Creator of Magic emerges at location-based gaming upstart BodSix

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Location-based mobile gaming could very well be the next frontier of the games business. And BodSix wants to make sure that it catches that wave at the right time. The 6-person Seattle upstart, led by former Amazon.com and Jobster product manager Jeff Dixon,  is currently working on a game called Map Monsters that uses one’s… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Opstera looks to help clients find answers in the cloud

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Opstera is just four months old. But the Bellevue upstart is already reeling in customers who are turning to the $50 per month service to monitor and manage applications running on the Windows Azure platform. As of this week, more than 100 customers have signed on for the company’s AzureOps, a product that helps customers automatically… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Ex-Google engineers guide Schedulista to profits after just 6 months

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Seattle entrepreneurs Felix Livni and Lowell Manners are lean startup acolytes. And that philosophy is already paying dividends for the founders of Schedulista, a six-month old Seattle startup that helps hair salons, accountants and other small businesses accept appointments online. The company turned it first profit last month, and Livni and Manners, who got to know each… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Knotis looks to turn merchants into happy daily deal users

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You’ve heard the horror stories of small businesses getting overwhelmed by daily deals from the likes of Groupon and Living Social. Knotis founder McLean Reiter, a 28-year-old Seattle entrepreneur, wants to help those merchants navigate the tricky landscape with a new service called Knotis. Offering merchants a flat-rate of $14 per month, Knotis offers tools that helps… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: American Idol meets Facebook in FameMe

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Brett Marl is back in the startup game. The former chief technology officer at Pure Networks, which sold to Cisco back in 2008, is having a ball trying to help discover the world’s next Kelly Clarkson or Taylor Hicks. In fact, FameMe, as Marl describes it, FameMe is essentially American Idol for the Facebook generation…. Read More…

Pop Salad: A celebrity ‘stock market’ to buy and sell Clooney, Bieber and the Kardashians

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Looking to kill a few hours — and perhaps a few brain cells? Pop Salad might be right for you. Created by Seattle startup Salad Labs, Pop Salad is an online game in which players buy and sell celebrities whose values rise or fall based on the buzz the stars are generating on Twitter and… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: MoxTree branches out with a social network for moms

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As the mother of two young children, Victoria Oldridge knows just how challenging it can be to raise kids. Sometimes you just need someone to lean on, a bit of help and support when things are out of control. That’s why the 33-year-old entrepreneur and San Francisco Bay Area transplant formed MoxTree, a social networking site… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: This upstart thinks it can help you make money in the stock market

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Can geeky algorithms beat the pros on Wall Street? Scott Juds, the founder of SumGrowth Strategies, which is developing a new automated stock picker called SectorSurfer, thinks so. Juds previously worked as a software engineer developing infrared photoelectric sensors — using those skills to optically encode tokens in casinos. Now, he’s combining his technology skills with… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: This 25-year-old Web entrepreneur built a profitable business on a shoestring

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Josh Neblett was a finance major at Gonzaga University when he heard venture capitalist and adjunct professor Tom Simpson describe the idea for GreenCupboards, an online retail site for eco-friendly products. Neblett didn’t waste much time jumping on the opportunity. He approached Simpson after class, and asked if he could write a business plan for… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Buck turns mobile phones into digital wallets

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For years, industry watchers have been talking about digital wallets — the idea of turning devices into mobile payment systems. But has the time finally come to replace the old leather billfold? Andy Kleitsch hopes so. The 40-year-old founder of Buck  – a Seattle company formerly known as Billing Revolution — has been working in the… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Turn a day at the slopes into a memorable clip show with Highlight Hunter

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If you’re an outdoor adventurer who shoots video while skiing, snowboarding or mountain biking, Highlight Hunter might just save you a few hours when you get back in front of your computer. And that means you can devote even more time to your favorite pursuits. The Seattle company, led by 28-year-old former Microsoft project manager Noah… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Korrio looks to score with social network for youth sports

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As a father and coach, Steve Goldman experienced first-hand the pains of getting youth sports teams organized. And as a techie, he knew there had to be a better way. Goldman founded Korrio in 2009 to solve that problem, creating an online service that helps coaches, players and family members stay organized using modern-day technologies…. Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Bizible raises cash to elevate businesses in online directories

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In an era of Yelp, CitySearch, Google Places and dozens of other online directories, it can be especially tough for small businesses to make sure that they are being properly listed and discovered. Bizible, led by former Bing AdCenter veterans Aaron Bird and Peter Thompson, believes it can help relieve some of that pain by… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Like Secret helps you find that special Valentine via Facebook

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Why scour online dating sites for potential matches when your real Valentine might be waiting in your Facebook contacts? That’s the idea behind Like Secret, a 2-month-old startup that’s taking the covers off its online dating service this month. The company was founded by Drew Blaisdell — a 20-year-old who is studying informatics and philosophy… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Ex-Amazon and Boeing data center experts launch Vizualiiz

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Craig Kelly and Bob Cartwright have worked in the data center business for years, with Kelly spending more than a decade at Amazon.com and Cartwright holding industrial and systems engineering positions at Boeing. Now, the entrepreneurs are taking the wraps off their new company, Vizualiiz, which promises to make data center management faster, easier and more… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Former NFL players tackle mobile apps at Viva Vision

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Former Seattle Seahawks Joe Tafoya, Kerry Carter and Chike Okeafor may not be unleashing bone-crushing hits on the football field anymore, but their competitive juices are still flowing. They’ve just traded the thrill of the gridiron for the fast-paced action of mobile applications. The trio are now teammates at Viva Vision, a 13-year-old Redmond mobile… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: 22-year-old entrepreneur kickstarts ServedBy the Net

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Josh Breeds started a Web hosting company at the age of 10, picking up business lessons from his entrepreneurial father. Now, at the ripe old-age of 22, Breeds is back in the saddle. While studying biochemistry at the University of Washington (where he’s currently working to finish his degree), Breeds formed ServedBy the Net. The Seattle… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: TinyPass looks to line publishers’ pockets with new way to charge for content

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In an opinion piece for Bloomberg this week, former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold lamented the demise of the physical newspaper and wondered if the solution might be in a payment system for news content. That message certainly will resonate with TinyPass, a 12-month-old startup that’s created a new way for news organizations to… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: BlooperBox is America’s Funniest Home Videos for the Web (minus Bob Saget)

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Take America’s Funniest Home Videos, add a touch of Fail Blog and CollegeHumor.com and then mix in King of the Web and you’ll come up with BlooperBox. The Portland upstart was founded last June after — and we’re not joking here — co-founder Brad Hogan’s dog chased after a squirrel leashed to a coffee table. As… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Omnom looks to remove the pain of finding delivery restaurants

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Need pizza, chicken wings or lamb tikka masala delivered to your doorstep right now, but aren’t quite sure where to turn? Omnom may have the answer. The oddly-named Seattle startup (see more details on the moniker below) just launched a new Internet search service that connects consumers with restaurants that deliver. Of course, there’s no… Read More…