Orchard Mile: Luxury Fashion at Your Fingertips

Jennie Baik, Co-Founder and CEO of Orchard Mile

Let’s face it: we all want to look like a magazine cover every once in a while (in fact, all the time). With that said, how many designers does it take to curate your perfect “runway” look? And if you’re as picky and as time-constrained as most professional women, chances are you choose to do this online, which probably turns your browser in a huge mess. We’ve all been there: you find an item you love, but by the time you find the accessories to go with it, you have so many tabs open it’s hard to remember where you started….

Good news is Jennie Baik has a solution for all of us. A former strategy executive at Burberry and a fellow fashionista, Baik is all too familiar with the problem with the infinite tabs, which caused her to become frustrated with the online shopping experience. As a result, she created Orchard Mile – the ultimate online shopping marketplace that gathers all your favorite brands’ websites and makes them easily shoppable in one place with one checkout, eliminating the need to navigate multiple websites. The only e-tailer to partner directly with this curated selection of modern luxe brands that speak to the “woman-on-the-go”, the company also provides information about key trends and inspirational picks for the season, so you can incorporate a touch of fabulous in your day-to-day. Because Orchard Mile doesn’t hold inventory, their picks are authentic, which means you can get more interesting style picks across the long tail of fashion (we all know there’s nothing worse than showing up at a party in the same dress as someone else!).

This approach has won Orchard Mile its share of loyalists among the fashion set, which only increased the need to personalize the experience further by allowing shoppers to create their very own Fifth Avenue. My Mile is the next exciting feature the company has in store for its customers, which will enable them to save their preferences by putting all their favorite brands and categories in one place, and access them anytime, anywhere. All the fun of shopping, minus the walking… Why walk when you can scroll?

As for the future? The CEO can’t reveal too much at this point, but the plan seems to be nothing but growth. After employing an ingenious strategy to mitigate the woes of ‘fundraising while female’ by raising a seed round from established industry experts and real estate owners in the retail space, Baik is ready to conquer the world of luxury fashion.

Oh, and did I mention that you get $25 off your first order just for signing up?

5 Disruptors You’ve Never Heard Of

When it comes to innovation in Boston, what is the first company that comes to mind? Would it be Wayfair with its game-changing VR? Localytics with its $35M Series D and Free Beer Fridays?   Or maybe LogMeIn with its 3 Mass TLC Leadership Awards nominations?

Truth be told, all these companies are doing amazing things.  But ‘underdogs’ are oftentimes the ones to develop mind-blowing technologies, guaranteed to catapult humanity further into the future.  Here are 5 of them:

• Terrafugia    

Fly around in a TF-X

Peter Thiel famously said that “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters”. Founded by MIT engineers, Terrafugia has taken to steer us back to the futuristic dream of seamlessly zipping through the air in our very own flying cars. Named TF-X™, the vehicle is expected to be hybrid-electric and have a range of 500 miles, with a top speed of 200mph. Eager to get one? Tough luck. The project is still in the early stages and expected to go into production between 2023 and 2027.

• Soofa

President Obama chills on a Soofa bench with company CEO Sandra Richter. Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

If you hang around Central Square in Cambridge or the Boston South End, chances are you might have sat on something created by these guys. The company has made it its mission to harness sunshine into solar-powered benches that allow you to charge your devices on the go. A spin-off of the MIT Media Lab, Soofa got its start in 2014 with an investment by no other but Accomplice, and has (so far) taken its creation to 18 states and 5 countries, including Germany, Canada and the UAE.

• NetBrain*

Network mapping reinvented

Did you know that network outages cost companies an average of $212,200 per hour? Or that network engineers need to manually input 80 lines of code to discover a single device? And if you have 5,000 devices and a network problem, the result can be a huge mess. A global player with offices in Burlington, Sacramento, Beijing and Munich, NetBrain provides a solution that allows enterprises to automate this process, allowing engineers to view their entire network through a single pane of glass and troubleshoot issues on the spot. Too complicated? Think of it this way: NetBrain does for engineers what GMaps did for drivers.

• Vecna

A sneak peek into the future would be incomplete without an army of robots. No, not the evil Terminator-like destroyers, but the ones that promise to propel humanity forward. Deriving its name from the Czech ‘vecny’ (meaning ‘eternal’), Vecna provides solutions for enterprise, healthcare, education and government, focusing its core research on enabling machines to independently navigate through unstructured environments, recognize human movements, faces and gestures, as well as specific objects. Their coolest projects include a telepresence robot for managing remote teams and VGo, a solution that helps kids transition back to the classroom after short- and long-term absences.

• Energy Harvesters

Your next phone charge is a walk away

You’re expecting an important call, but your battery is about to drop. Your charger is nowhere to be found and there’s no Starbucks or Soofa bench in sight; now what? According to Energy Harvesters, the solution is just a walk away. The company has dreamed up the Walking Charger™, a device that enables you to charge your phone anytime, anywhere, just by taking a quick walk.

*Disclaimer: The author is currently employed at NetBrain. 

Boston Techies, Meet NewCo

Imagine you could get a special invitation to tour Google’s Headquarters. Larry Page and Sergey Brin would personally take you around campus, show you the self-driving car prototypes (and maybe let you in for a quick spin) and introduce you to top Google talent before sitting you down with a beer in order to tell you about their journey and answer all the questions you can think of.

Well, this is happening. Okay, maybe not Google, but a great number of Boston’s primary innovators have decided to open up their offices and give NewCo attendees the VIP treatment.

In case you haven’t heard about it, NewCo is a global organization, celebrating disruptive businesses through festivals, media and services. Already having settled in the likes of San Francisco, Austin and London, NewCo has decided to add Boston to its portfolio. By partnering with MassTLC and a number of the leaders in the local tech community, NewCo has chosen this coming Wednesday, April 27, as its official kickoff date. If you’ve ever wanted to get a sneak peak into the culture of some celebrity techies, such as Wayfair, CloudHealth and Akamai, this is your chance! A bunch of local companies will invite you to their space, so you can get firsthand experience on what it’s like to work there and hear how they channel innovation on a daily basis from no one but their C-Suite. The range of topics is as broad as the sponsors themselves: from cloud security and IT to e-commerce and harnessing the power of emotions to enhance your business.

The best part?  You can attend one session for absolutely free! One is not enough? If you’re a student, you can attend the whole event for as little as $20. Otherwise, register using code JC25 to get $25 off any Unlimited or VIP Pass. Attend all the sessions you wish, network and exchange ideas with fellow techies and then head down to the GEM Lounge to continue the conversation while sipping on refreshments at the after party.

And don’t forget your business cards!

Finomial or How Hedge Funds Moved Into the 21st Century

Meredith Moss – Finomial’s Founder, CEO and chief salesperson

How often do you think about hedge funds?

If you’re as removed from the world of finance as I am, chances are the images these two words conjure in your mind have a lot to do with bespoke suits, incessant complexities and (of course) an unfathomable amount of money. However, if you’ve grown up in this industry, you probably can’t stop thinking of the nitty-gritty details behind it and spend every waking moment thinking how you can make it better.

Such is the case of Meredith Moss, the Founder and CEO of Finomial – a financial services startup that deals precisely with the un-sexy problems of hedge funds. Having spent her career managing software for financial services, Moss secretly dreamed of starting a company of her own, but it wasn’t until she switched to alternative investments (investments that don’t fit the three traditional  asset types, namely stocks, bonds and cash) that she got the idea of the exact problem she could fix. While serving as Vice President at Credit Suisse Alternative Investments, she was incredibly surprised that alternatives were still in “the dark ages” when it came to the way they process investments from institutional investors, as everything was still done in pen and paper. Needless to say, this generated a lot of mistakes which is not exactly what you want when dealing with large sums of money.

Tired of the incessant problems this caused, Moss decided to fix the problem herself, and in the spring of 2011 she founded Finomial – a financial services startup that aims to elevate alternatives to the 21st century. The company focuses on the subscription process, enabling investors to seamlessly put capital to work into hedge funds. It might sound complicated but they do it all by providing a platform for Fund Administrators, who provide back office services to hedge funds. Finomial helps mediate between the fund administrator, the investor and the hedge fund employees, handling subscription to the fund (investments), supporting the tax processes, allowing real-time communication with investors and providing them with essential information on their money based on performance reports. This way the company provides a necessary solution to a very un-sexy problem. As the sole entity that attempts to solve it – yes, that’s right, they have no competition at all – Finomial has managed to generate trust among the biggest banks and hedge funds in the world, and do so with minimal investment and a single salesperson – Moss herself! Impressive? Not compared to their long-term plans. The company currently has a team of 30 headquartered in the beautiful WeWork office near South Station, and is putting its efforts into rapid scaling. According to Moss, Finomial will start its expansion by building its engineering team and acquiring new clients, with a focus on foreign markets, such as Europe and Asia. All of this would be made possible with a new round of investment the company is planning to raise in the end of this year – something that probably won’t be that difficult considering their success so far.

Discover the Boston Tech Scene with TechGen!

If you were passing by Columbus Park on Wednesday, you have probably noticed some balloons, a huge ‘Welcome’ sign and a bunch of people in colorful t-shirts playing games. And if you keep track of what’s happening on the Boston tech scene, you probably knew that that was TechGen hosting Urban Beach Bash – its biggest event this summer. Bringing current students together with some of the key players in the Boston startup ecosystem, Urban Beach Bash was a reflection of what TechGen aims to do at large – bridge the gap between higher education and the local tech community. And before you raise your voice, saying that students are already very well involved, stop for a second and think how many undergrads you met at the last networking event you went to?

The TechGen team having a blast at Urban Beach Bash

The truth is, students are generally vastly unaware of the resources available in this city (as a recent grad I can attest to that!), and this is exactly what TechGen aspires to change. I recently mentioned them in one of my pieces, but as I felt that what they are doing deserves a lot more attention, I scheduled a quick chat with Sarah Sherburne to find out more. As the Program Manager at the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA), Sarah is the mind, body and soul of TechGen, having been on board with the initiative since its very inception. The idea of introducing students to the Boston startup scene is nothing new and had been in the workings for awhile, but it wasn’t brought to life until Sherburne left a career in banking to join NEVCA in November 2014. Once there, she started reaching out to local universities, signing students to become Brand Ambassadors for TechGen. “Students are the ones that know their campuses best”, says Sherburne. “They know what resources, clubs and centers exist there and can utilize those to spread the word effectively.” On the other side, the newly appointed Program Manager leveraged NEVCA’s connection to companies and VCs to help students find the right match and make the most of their internships. Needless to say, this strategy worked flawlessly and TechGen’s first intern class, comprising of students from Harvard, MIT, BU, BC and many more, hit the ground running in the beginning of June.

Still, the mission of TechGen doesn’t stop there. The goal is not only to place a student in a startup environment, but to also get them involved in the community at a grander scale. That’s why the program is hosting a variety of events, aiming to connect students with the créme de la créme of the Boston startup community. Past events have included talks with Uber investor Eric Paley, The Grommet Founder and CEO Jules Pieri, and Kayak.com Founder Paul English, as well as a TechTreck with EverTrue and of course, Urban Beach Bash. And it gets even more amazing, as TechGen will also bring students together with Michael Skok, Diane Hessan and C.A.Webb, and will host dinners with some of the hippest startups, such as NuoDB and BookBub. Now that’s a recipe for a summer well-spent!

All of this might seem like too much effort to get students involved, but Sherburne insists that it will pay off in the long run. “There is so much talent here in Boston”, says she. “But as most of the students as unaware of the resources the city provides, they end up leaving, instead of contributing to the ecosystem.” She has a point: seemingly everyone looking to get into tech flocks to Silicon Valley, completely unsuspecting of the numerous opportunities Boston has to offer. But Sherburne knows better: born and raised in San Francisco, she traded the Valley for Boston when she chose to attend Wellesley College, and never thought of leaving. Now, she wants to use TechGen to show students from all parts of the country (and the world) that they are already in the right place and don’t need to leave to make it big. And considering the mesmerizing opportunities TechGen is offering, it doesn’t seem like she will have to do much convincing.

Innovator Spotlight: Samara Gordon (The Faster Times)

Samara Gordon from The Faster Times

When you first meet Samara Gordon, it’s hard to believe that just a year ago she was one of the many kids that threw their hats in the air and said ‘farewell’ to college once and for all. In ankle-length dress pants, white blouse and pearl studs, accentuated by an S-shaped earring on her left ear, Gordon looks effortlessly elegant and projects the kind of confidence that takes years to build.

Despite the fact that she left UPenn just a year ago, Gordon boasts experience and energy that many would covet. Having graduated with majors in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and a minor in Creative Writing, she arrived in Boston to join a small startup called Finomial as a Product Manager. However, even though she was reinventing investing as we know it, Samara Gordon knew that this was not what she was destined to do. After a year of juggling a full-time job with an incredibly demanding startup-in-the making, Gordon decided to part ways with Finomial and strike out on her own, turning that side project of hers into a full-fledged media startup.

https://twitter.com/Samara_Gee/status/617903696559648768

Her new venture, The Faster Times, is the result of careful research, aiming to change the way we think about the future. Gordon who was always interested in finding better ways to predict future events based on the information currently available, was first introduced to the “wisdom of the crowd” by a couple of her friends, working at a Penn lab. Their research proved that often times a large group of people from different backgrounds has a much better chance to guess the result of a current situation than an expert in the field. “I found this absolutely fascinating”, says she. “I thought that this should be out in the world and not hidden in a Penn lab!”. At the time Gordon discovered the findings of the lab, she also happened to be taking a class called Entrepreneurial Journalism that prompted her to write a business plan about turning a news source into predictive analytics. This led to a pitch competition where she quickly snagged the first place and the award of $7,500 in seed funding. And so, having validated her idea, Samara Gordon set out to create The Faster Times – a company that would aim to give you a perspective on current events by explaining the underlying trends, but in the end would ask about your own opinion on the future. Tapping into something all of us do on a daily basis – and really, how often do you speculate with friends over the outcome of a major event, such as whether Boston would host the Olympics or Greece would leave the EU? – Gordon hopes to create a platform that would allow people to discuss and share opinions on anything that may happen in the future – from celebrity breakups to an economic crisis.

Absolutely mesmerized by the idea of a predictive analytics medium, Gordon walked me through the possible outcomes that would result from the creation of The Faster Times while sipping on a cup of black iced coffee. Imagine a world where “the wisdom of the crowd” could be the ultimate go-to when trying to assess the likelihood of an occurrence; where ordinary people have the opportunity to rise to an “expert” rank, depending on the accuracy of their guesses; where any major disaster can be predicted more easily and doesn’t take us by surprise. Through predictive analytics we could be more prepared to face anything fate throws our way and become more efficient as a society, saving time, money and lives. I don’t know about you, but this kind of future definitely gets me excited! And still despite all her enthusiasm, Gordon manages to keep a cool head and is very attune of the challenges that lie in the way. First of all, there is fundraising which is her current focus. After that comes the reality of marrying fun news pieces with utterly serious ones, and still making The Faster Times a trusted resource that helps you consider alternate perspectives on complex issues. Taking her product management experience, Gordon has her hands deep in the water with solving the second problem and seems to be thinking about it all the time. Of course, creating the ideal cross-section between The New York Times and BuzzFeed is challenging to say the least, but in the end of the day it’s the enthusiasm and drive of people like her that have brought us innovations more powerful than our wildest dreams!

Startup Networking 101

Ever since I started this blog, I’ve been getting multiple inquiries about the Boston startup scene, ranging from the companies I write about to the events I go to. Even though the topics may vary, they all seem to have one thing in common: the underlying question of “How do I get in?“. Good news is that if you want in, you cannot be in a better place: the Boston startup ecosystem is thriving and information about events and mixers seems to be flying around with the speed of light! So, to get you started, here’s a list of some of the best networking opportunities Boston has to offer:

• Venture Cafe. Looking to get your first feel of the Boston tech scene? Venture Café is exactly the place for you! Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to get feedback about your idea or a person that wants to get involved with a startup, you’ll definitely find what you need. Every Thursday 3-8pm Venture Café opens its doors for some great conversation, expert talks, panels, and of course – networking. Did I mention they also have wine and craft beer on tap?

• Stack Dive. I have written about Stack Dive before, but there’s no way I could sing enough praises to Jim and Joe! Whether you’re a hardcore developer or someone looking to get more acquainted with the technical side of things, this event has something to offer. It happens once a month and gathers some of the coolest people on the Boston tech scene, so stalk their Twitter page for updates!

• Localytics Free Beer Fridays. Yes, you got it: free beer seems to be a constant in the startup community. But this is special because Localytics – one of the fastest growing companies in Boston – has decided to open up its office to the entire startup community on the first Friday of every month. That means you get to meet amazing people, get a feel of different companies and get to know the Localytics team itself! So, what are you waiting for?!

• TechGen. Now, this one is completely new, but they have made sure to keep your calendar full this summer. Don’t believe me? Check this out. A spin-off of the New England Venture Capital Association, TechGen aims to connect students to the innovation hub of Boston. From conversations with top entrepreneurs and VCs to company presentations, they’ve got you covered. Not a student? Doesn’t matter: their events are open to the public!

• She Geeks Out. Are you a tech-inclined woman? Want to meet other badass women kicking butt on the startup scene? That’s your place. She Geeks Out throws monthly events where you can connect with like-minded women, find a mentor and build a support system for your tech career. Their events rotate around the offices of the coolest tech companies in Boston, and (of course) include free drinks and food.

Of course, these are just a handful of the events happening in this city, but you’re guaranteed a great time at each and every one of them. And by the way, you’re more than welcome to go in jeans!

Buttrfly or How to Network in the 21st Century

If you heard anything about this year’s Startup Spotlight event in Cambridge, it might have come to your attention that one of the award categories was “Company I Want to Have a Beer With” (a.k.a. “Awesome Culture” award). This year the winner that took the award home was a brand-new social networking app called Buttrfly. And since the CEO is oftentimes the keeper (and/or the creator) of a company’s culture, I decided to get a sneak peak into Buttrfly by grabbing a cold one with Founder and CEO Arthur Rogers.

But first of all, what is Buttrfly? Well, imagine you’re at a networking event. We’ve all been to a bunch of those, and let’s face it, most of the times we have no freakin’ idea who’s around us. So we miss out on opportunities to learn, connect and…you get the idea. Looking for a co-founder or an investor? Maybe they were next to you at that conference last week, but you never knew…

Enter Buttrfly. This social networking app promises to show you who’s around you at all times, all in the matter of a couple of clicks. Once you create a profile and pick a category (you can identify as an entrepreneur, investor, salesperson, etc.), the platform asks you to check off your interests, like this:

Photo: Courtesy of Buttrfly

Once you’ve done that, the app will work its magic and show you who the like-minded people around you are. You will be able to see their names and interests, so that you make sure you meet them and don’t walk up to them without the means to engage them in a conversation that benefits both parties. And this is how the tad of awkwardness that’s always lurking in the shadows at the contact with strangers disappeared into oblivion.

The idea of Buttrfly sprang to the mind of Arthur Rogers while he was stuck at an airport for about 40 hours due to a cancelled flight. Rogers who describes himself as “the chattiest person ever” (and trust me, he really is!) was surrounded by people he knew nothing about, and found himself desperately wishing he could strike a conversation about something that would truly matter to at least one of his airport “companions”. Only if he could see who they were and what they cared about! A seasoned business development executive with a successful startup exit under his belt, Rogers decided to channel his energy into making a product that would ensure that no one gets into a situation like that. Incubated in the MIT Media Lab as early as November 2014, Buttrfly has grown to seven employees and already has its product up and running.

Photo: Courtesy of Buttrfly

What’s next? Rogers envisions Buttrfly as a platform that would potentially allow you not only to meet other cool people, but also to share your interests and broadcast your favorite items. Like, how many times have you wondered where the girl next to you got these fabulous shoes? Or what device that-super-fit-guy-at-the-gym uses to track his workouts? With Buttrfly you can know all of that. The idea is that everyone would be able to share their favorite brands and products on the app, so that you will immediately know what they’re wearing, using, etc. and would have the validated recommendation of a real person sitting next to you instead of a bunch of impersonal online reviews. It’s good business for the brands and consumers get to speak in their own voice, supporting something they like and believe in. Win-win. Sounds exciting? Stay tuned; all of this will be coming very, very soon.

In the meantime you can get Buttrfly for Android right here. It will sure let you know who’s around you at the Esplanade this weekend!

Ridgewing Guitars Sets Out to Revolutionize Guitars As We Know Them

Over the course of the last 30 years Tim White has worked as an optical engineer, consultant, founded and sold a couple of businesses, but all along he had one passion: guitars. He first picked up the instrument at the age of 15, but his left-handedness soon forced him to take a year long break, during which he couldn’t get the desire to put his hands on the grill out of his mind. Ultimately, he decided to sacrifice comfort and learned to play rightie. And so his life-long fascination ensued. Even now, at the age of 64, he adores the instrument so much that if you mention the word ‘guitar’, he simply wouldn’t shut up.

Tim seems to know more about guitars than anyone else in this world. For example, did you know that pictures of air guitars appeared in ancient Egyptian drawings or that in medieval Spain the instrument was associated with sorcery, as it was believed to house a spirit that would possess the body of anyone who plays it? Yup, neither did I. A walking encyclopedia not only on the history of guitars, but also on the subjects on acoustics and the brain’s perception of sound, it is not surprising that Tim has turned making the perfect guitar into his life’s work.

Ever since he would hitchhike around the country with the (quite literally) heavy load of a 12-string guitar on his back, he’s been thinking of ways to make the instrument lighter and more portable. It all began in a guitar store in Ann Arbor, MI where Tim first came up with the idea of ‘shrinking’ a guitar and then ‘expanding’ it back to its full size. What followed was a quick experiment involving an acoustic guitar, graphite fiber and a Myler shopping back. The year was 1981 and the result was an instrument that produced amazing sound and looked like this:

Photo Credit: Ridgewing Guitars

Encouraged by this initial success, Tim would continue the quest of transforming guitars as we know them over the next 19 years. A biologist by education, he drew the inspiration for his final grillwork design from the structure of a dragonfly’s wing – something light, yet able to move sufficient waves of air to achieve its goal (in this case, producing sound). After much research, some CADing, and what seemed to be endless experiments with 3D printing, molding and a bunch of different materials, the quest was completed. The Chrysalis guitar (as it was called back in 2000) was made of silicon molds and carbon fiber, and looked like this:

Photo Credit: Ridgewing Guitars

Quite the masterpiece, it was quickly pronounced “One of the Most Collectable Guitars Available” by renowned guitar collector Ed Roman, who purchased two of the early prototypes. In addition, the MFA included the guitar in its 2000 exhibition “Dangerous Curves” which included rare instruments dating back to the 1400s. And if you’re still wondering what’s so special about Tim’s design (besides the fact that it’s a wicked good-looking guitar), check this out:

Photo Credit: Ridgewing Guitars

It’s light, easy to take apart (I watched Scott Lumsden from Ridgewing do it in a matter of seconds), and each and every part of it is replaceable. Fast-forward 12 years and this would become the core of Ridgewing Guitars‘ business model. The result of a collaboration between Tim and a couple of then-students at MIT Sloan, the company is experimenting with various materials, aiming to reduce the cost of the Ridgewing guitar (the original prototype cost $8000), and make it available to the mass guitar enthusiasts. Their first goal: to replace the expensive materials they’re now using with wood, while still keeping the new guitar compatible with any of the original’s pieces. “This will allow anyone who cannot afford the more expensive version to buy the cheaper one and slowly upgrade their guitar piece by piece”, explains Tim White.

From left to right: Tim White, Nate Burnell, Jay Darrow, Scott Lumsden Photo Credit: Ridgewing Guitars

Voted “Most Likely to Develop a Cult Following” at the recent Startup Spotlight event in Cambridge, MA, Ridgewing is currently looking to raise a round of funding. However, despite the fact that the guitar market is larger than $2billion in the US alone, White says that venture money is not easily accessible for a venture like his. “It is virtually impossible to present in the usual 3-minute pitch window the novelty and complexity of the Ridgewood technology and business model”, explains he. So, unsurprisingly the company has turned to crowdfunding as a source of financing the venture. Looking to raise around $500,000 in the next six months, the Ridgewing team is focused on creating a future where every guitar player has the freedom to customize their instrument as they see fit. When asked about his vision for the future of the company, Tim White says that they are “aiming to create an army of online stores all over the world” by collaborating with guitar enthusiasts and collectors. “We’ve taken the product as far as we can, and for us it is perfect, but the real innovation will come from the people. The guitar market hasn’t seen any changes for the past 50 years, and we’re aspiring to change that by giving the guitar community the chance to customize its instruments”, says he, adding that he can’t wait to see what designs and improvements his fellow guitarists would come up with.

SPOT or How Parking Turned from Pain to an Opportunity

Mark Abramowicz (left), Braden Golub (middle) and Mitchell Gaynor (right)

What’s the biggest complaint of Bostonians besides the fact that the city closes so early? If you ever had to drive in this city, chances are you’ll immediately scream “Parking!”. And you’re right. We have very little street space, while everyone seems to have a car, garages are far away and wicked expensive, and so parking is a pain in the ass. It gets even worse when you stop to think about how much money you paid for a parking spot next to that new apartment of yours, because if you discount the time you’re at work or away on vacation….it turns out you’re never quite using it. Bummer, right?

But what if you could turn that to your advantage and make money out of it? No, I’m not crazy. I just happened to come across a great new startup that allows you to do just that. Easily described as the Airbnb for parking, SPOT lets you rent out your parking space(s) when you’re not using it, allowing you to make the most out of it. The company has devised a rate of the parking spots around various Boston neighborhoods, allowing you to quickly determine what your spot’s worth. And it’s incredibly easy to use. All you need to do is download the app (available on iOS and Android), and a few clicks later you can start banking on your underused parking spot. Pretty cool, huh? Apparently, the startup press seems to agree with that, as this infant of a startup (they’re barely a year old) has managed to get covered by the likes of BetaBoston, BostInno, TIME and TechCrunch.

Now, how did they get here? SPOT is the brainchild of Braden Golub, an Ohio native that felt the pain of parking when he first moved to Boston nearly a decade ago. One day, as he was feeding the meter for his girlfriend’s car, Golub noticed all the empty parking spots behind his apartment building. And then it hit him: people weren’t using their parking spaces when at work, while others (like him) kept spending time and money on street parking. A couple of months later SPOT was born. A year later the company has already grown to 7 employees and managed to establish a cordial relationship with the City of Boston (which Director of Marketing Mitchell Gaynor cites as a significant factor for SPOT’s success), accumulate more than 15,000 users, and is currently in the process of raising a seed round of investment.  Not bad for a company that’s just getting started.

Even though SPOT is currently operating solely in Boston, it’s planning to expand its service to other cities very soon. Chicago is first on the list, with San Francisco, L.A. and Miami to quickly follow, and then the company plans to roll out in Philadelphia, D.C. and Seattle. Right now you’re probably thinking: “Why not NYC? After all, that’s the one place parking is even more of a bitch than in Boston.”  My thoughts exactly. However, according to Gaynor, parking in Manhattan is heavily regulated and garages hold an overarching monopoly, SPOT is postponing that move until it garners sufficient brand recognition. And then? The team just hopes to continue expanding while doing what it does best – helping people.

“We recently contracted a school to rent out 15 parking spaces during the summer”, says Gaynor. “They will manage to capitalize on their untapped resources, with all the money going back to the school, so that it develops more afterschool programs for the kids”. A Salem native, Gaynor worked in advertising after graduating from Salem State University, but his heart wasn’t into it. After an extensive job search and what Golub deemed “the cockiest cover letter he ever read”, Mitch Gaynor landed at SPOT. “What keeps us motivated here”, he says, “is that we’re giving back to the people, allowing them to take their money back by capitalizing on the resources they have”.