Mineful has positioned itself in a new and growing market of analytics and marketing automation for online retailers and web/mobile apps. Utilizing powerful analytics, Mineful searches through transactional data and determines when customers’ purchasing habits change. This data is then used to automatically message the customers with coupons or other targeted e-mails. The end result is a dramatic increase in customer retention and shopping loyalty for e-commerce providers.

Mineful is currently closing a $400,000 seed round and has investors lined up in Dallas, Chicago and Houston. They recently presented to the Dallas Angel Network, of which Johnson is also a member.  They will close this round shortly and would enjoy additional TW participation.

For more information, please contact Jaime Brugueras at 773-980-6482 or jbrugueras@mineful.com.

When a problem presents itself more than 3 times in one week, I tend to take it as a sign that I should think about it. This morning, Philip (my 13 year old son), myself, and one of our new founders, Eric Yoo of YooLotto, prepared and served meals to 171 homeless people in south Dallas at Cornerstone Kitchen. It’s something Eric does the second Saturday of every month and he invited the new Tech Wildcatters class to join him.

Last week I met with a local tech entrepreneur who spends much of his time and money helping educate homeless children. Yesterday I listened to a talk about a great organization that helps encourage those experiencing homelessness through running, called Back on my Feet.

The most profound experience however, was last weekend when I was in San Francisco. A friend and I were getting some breakfast and sat down at a patio table looking out over the Bay. At the table next to us was a homeless woman. A friend of hers stopped, along with his cart full of belongings, to talk to her. The first thing he said was “Where did you sleep last night?”

I don’t know about you, but that question sums up a lot. You and I might ask it with a wink and nod on a Sunday morning. He asked it because they both don’t have a place of their own to sleep.

I gave a talk yesterday about the personality traits I’ve observed in innovative people. If innovation = problem + solution + commercialization, then innovator = inventor + entrepreneur.

So let’s talk about homelessness as a problem that an innovator can solve. I know, how can someone possibly think about profit when it comes to the homeless? What a terrible thing!

But wait, if a big part of the problem is getting people engaged back into the economic system, shouldn’t they learn by doing?

The three of us, Eric, Philip and I, were in the car heading from where we prepared the food to where we were serving it. As we are all entrepreneurial, with more ideas than we could ever execute on, we hatched a new business idea. It’s yours for the taking if it will help you fulfill your mission. We’d love to brainstorm more if anyone is interested!

There are some similar concepts out there, but they are generally run by non-profits. For instance, there’s one in LA, called Made.

Thesis: If what many homeless are lacking is a job…then how can we put them to work? Forget working for free, I mean real w-2, you take a drug test and show up on time kind of work. If you do well, you get a raise, you get promoted. If you want to take your new skills and get a higher paying job somewhere else…mission accomplished. If you want to stay at the company, that’s great too. It’s basically a company that runs on the one resource that everyone seems to overlook when they see homelessness as a problem. The people. I realize not all of them are capable of working, due to things like addiction, illness, or choosing homelessness as a lifestyle. This isn’t for that group of people. It’s for the ones who want to get back on their feet. The ones who don’t want handouts. The ones who need and want the dignity of taking care of themselves.

So what would they sell? We thought through some simple products that could be sold the same way Tom’s Shoes or Ethos Water are…with a social mission marketing angle. Philip suggested the plastic bracelets that so many of us have, with the words ‘No Hobo’. I mean, if you’ll buy one that says ‘Save the Boobies’, why not? I proposed a line of screenprinted items and handmade jewelry, with inspirational quotes. Think the Life is Good company.

We talked through a lot of the what if’s. We really think this could work. Imagine if a homeless person could get a minimum wage job with full benefits and a place to work like google that serves meals, has childcare, and reimburses college tuition for employees and their families. Imagine if they could work within a company culture where people understand them. Imagine if it became one of the most profitable consumer product companies, with all profits being reinvested in growth.

Can’t hurt to try!

Obviously, the elevator pitch is very important.  And because you are usually describing new and innovative ideas, it isn’t as formulaic as say, a movie theme, where there are well known genre templates – so you can’t just say “my company is an edgy SciFi romantic comedy, sort of a ‘Pretty Woman’ meets ‘I, Robot’ with robotic hookers“….not gonna work!

The mad lib model is really a good launch point for original thinking, which is very important at this stage of the pitch.  Plus, it is a great way to avoid the dangerous, repetitive buzz-word anti-patterns out there.

What is an indication you fallen into an elevator pitch anti-pattern?  If you sound too much like the Web Economy Bullshit Generator!

P.S. – if you sell the “robotic hookers” pitch, I get Executive Producer credit…

BAT

I get to hear it more than most – and will probably hear it a time or three talking to the new Tech Wildcatters portfolio companies!

So how do you break the cycle of ignorance?  Here are a few suggestions:

• Identify key goals and direction. That way you don’t blissfully try to boil the ocean when you want to brew tea.
• Be aware of your personal ignorance, especially of business basics. Are you a technical founder? Know how to do an 83(b)? Don’t hesitate to engage professionals – the money you save may be your own!
• Are you in a new space without meaningful data?  Examining similar domains, drawing analogies, and making estimates are better than failing to do any assessment. Remember, history doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.
• Act, assess, and act again – unknowns that can impact results will appear!

Tech Wildcatters has great mentors with a range of experiences to help resolve the mysteries of entrepreneurship for our portfolio companies.

Can we help you?  I don’t know…:)

BAT

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Astute angels and VCs will see that, smile benevolently, nod knowingly, and become a little more likely to open their wallets.

However, far too often, I speak to companies that either a) haven’t thought about that aspect of their business, b) don’t understand the nuances of Intellectual Property, and how it can positively AND negatively impact their ability to operate, or worst of all, c) don’t care, and think it is a waste of money!

Now, I will be the first to admit, there are businesses in which IP is not a driving force in a company’s success – JC Penney, as an example, made it to the 21st century without a single patent.

But we are talking technology here, people – this is, after all, TECH Wildcatters!

Understanding the basics of Intellectual Property is a must. Using Open Source is not an excuse to avoid thinking about it. Nor is the fact your business is a Software-as-a-Service, so you never actually sell any software.  Oh, I know, you would never intentionally infringe on someone else’s patents you ignored, or violate the licenses you don’t read… but it still might cost you your business!

You are a responsible entrepreneur – I know you want to do the right thing for the company and your investors.  Get a little educated, budget a little money for a patent attorney, start marking documents “Confidential” – all small steps that can help ensure a big payout later on!

BAT

Resources:

Fenwick & West, LLP  docstore

wikipedia.org – Intellectual Property_law

wikipedia.org – Uniform_Trade_Secrets_Act

Entrepreneurs know the reality of creating a company and products can be much different – creative conflicts will be everywhere! The UX person doesn’t like the front-end developer’s specs, two of the co-founders are each building completely separate marketing plans, your strongest programmer doesn’t agree with your API strategy, and is developing a secondary model on his own. No VCs are interested. The foosball table is broken, and you can’t afford beer.

So is the imagined harmony really better than the ugly, complex creation process I described? No, not really. In fact, it could be worse.

Building a great company with compelling solutions is about resolving unknowns. At some point, there is always ambiguity, uncertainty, and disagreement about direction and work effort. Everybody will have a theory or an opinion. Pick your stories, and agree to go work. Don’t worry about it being exactly perfect, it won’t be – and you will get feedback to guide you!

And that is the point – you need the right amounts of harmony and creativity in a start-up. Successful entrepreneurs somehow manage to balance these states, which is critical. Too much harmony, and you can get GroupThink, and perhaps launch firmly into a dead end. Too much creative discord, and you never get anything done.

Oh, and try to smile when it turns out the programmer was right, and you have to junk your carefully defined API model!

BAT

Why? Well, most great startup success stories have two or more entrepreneurs involved. Cuban and Wagner, Brin and Page, Orville and Wilbur, etc. And making a startup successful is also about finding great people and growing the team.

Do you as an entrepreneur have to personally be committed? Yes, absolutely! Can a team also have problems? Sure, we’ve seen them here at TW. Can you succeed by your lonesome self? Sure, it happens all the time.

But one of the things we do is help people team up. Because being that one “I”, a solo entrepreneur, is tough; it is especially tough in technology, and raises the risk substantially. Hence the title of the post.

Some exciting things are happening here at TW. In our never ending quest to help Dallas take advantage of all the things it has to offer startups, we are adding a new program in the fall for even earlier stage entrepreneurs. Stay tuned for details as we get it rolled out.

This means that the Spring Tech Wildcatters class will be the only one in 2012. The great news is that we will accept up to 12 companies this time!

For all of you who were waiting on the fall class to apply, we are extending the deadline until next Sunday, February 19th at midnight. So get those apps in!

Why You Should Apply:
Companies accepted in the class get up to $25,000 in seed funding, intensive top-notch mentorship, a huge network of mentors, alumni and investors, and the opportunity to pitch to angel investors, venture capitalists and corporate development teams at our end of program “Pitch Day”.
Did we mention Tech Wildcatters is ranked Top 10 Incubators by Forbes?
Pretty awesome, right?
To Qualify:
You must meet the following criteria:
2 or more founders (startups take way more work that one person can handle)
Web, mobile, software, game…basically anything IT driven that receives the majority of its revenue from businesses
Ability to be in Dallas for the 12 week program
So, what are you waiting for?
Apply here to be part of the next Tech Wildcatters class before time runs out!

Why You Should Apply:

Companies accepted in the class get up to $25,000 in seed funding, intensive top-notch mentorship, and the opportunity to pitch to angel investors, venture capitalists and corporate development teams at our end of program “Pitch Day”.

Did we mention Tech Wildcatters is ranked Top 10 Incubators by Forbes?

Pretty awesome, right?

To Qualify:

You must meet the following criteria:

• 2 or more founders (startups take way more work that one person can handle)
• Web, mobile, software, game…basically anything IT driven that receives the majority of its revenue from businesses
• Ability to be in Dallas for the 12 week program

So, what are you waiting for?

Apply here to be part of the next Tech Wildcatters class before time runs out!