Utah Tech Spotlight
Yesterday afternoon I attended my second Utah Tech Spotlight. The format for the spotlight is basically 20 minutes of socializing (drinks covered by the sponsors), a 20 minute presentation about a local Utah company and then question and answer. From an entrepreneur standpoint, the get-together has been great. Both times companies have been remarkably candid about their journey to where they are now, good things they did and mistakes they made.
This month the spotlight was on Mediaport. Mediaport makes kiosks that are typically placed in music stores. The Kiosks hold 70,000 albums digitally, so if the store does not have the CD you want, they can burn it for you instantly. The digital quality is higher than what you download over the internet and you can also download it directly to an MP3 player and play your tunes without synching to the internet. As an added bonus, Mediaport handed out some free CDs and let anyone with a USB drive download a couple of albums. By the way, Mediaport has more than doubled its size over the last six months and is looking to double again over the next year. If you know any good software engineers or programmers looking for work, I am sure Mediaport would appreciate the referral.
Utah Tech Spotlight is a valuable addition to our business community. Here is why you should attend:
1) It is a great excuse to bug out of the office a little early on a Friday afternoon;
2) You will learn about a local company that is growing its technology. It may be a potential resource - I hate when someone says they contracted with some company on either coast because "nobody does that here" - when I know there is someone down the street who is as good, if not better, than the out of state firm. You may also learn something from the presentation that will help you with some issue you are facing. The whole thing lasts an hour - although a lot of the attendees were still there an hour after it ended catching up with old friends or meeting new ones.
3) It is a great place to network. I met several people I know, Steve Spencer of Twelve Horses and Jason Alba of JibberJobber, and a few new contacts. With our tight labor market, networking is going to be increasingly important to businesses in need of good talent. For example, Jodi Juretich, has recently moved back to Salt Lake. Jodi has been a CFO/VP Finance/Controller for several high growth, VC backed start-ups. If anyone is looking to get their financials in order, or needs as CFO with experience raising venture funds, give me a call. I would be happy to put you in touch with Jodi.
This month the spotlight was on Mediaport. Mediaport makes kiosks that are typically placed in music stores. The Kiosks hold 70,000 albums digitally, so if the store does not have the CD you want, they can burn it for you instantly. The digital quality is higher than what you download over the internet and you can also download it directly to an MP3 player and play your tunes without synching to the internet. As an added bonus, Mediaport handed out some free CDs and let anyone with a USB drive download a couple of albums. By the way, Mediaport has more than doubled its size over the last six months and is looking to double again over the next year. If you know any good software engineers or programmers looking for work, I am sure Mediaport would appreciate the referral.
Utah Tech Spotlight is a valuable addition to our business community. Here is why you should attend:
1) It is a great excuse to bug out of the office a little early on a Friday afternoon;
2) You will learn about a local company that is growing its technology. It may be a potential resource - I hate when someone says they contracted with some company on either coast because "nobody does that here" - when I know there is someone down the street who is as good, if not better, than the out of state firm. You may also learn something from the presentation that will help you with some issue you are facing. The whole thing lasts an hour - although a lot of the attendees were still there an hour after it ended catching up with old friends or meeting new ones.
3) It is a great place to network. I met several people I know, Steve Spencer of Twelve Horses and Jason Alba of JibberJobber, and a few new contacts. With our tight labor market, networking is going to be increasingly important to businesses in need of good talent. For example, Jodi Juretich, has recently moved back to Salt Lake. Jodi has been a CFO/VP Finance/Controller for several high growth, VC backed start-ups. If anyone is looking to get their financials in order, or needs as CFO with experience raising venture funds, give me a call. I would be happy to put you in touch with Jodi.
I'd like to attend but I never see an announcement for the gathering. Do I need to sign up for an email? Who puts it on?
A note on Mediaport. Frankly, I am shocked that they are still in business. I met the founders when I was in MBA school and I didn't give them a snowballs chance. I'm also very doubtful about the growth they are claiming. iTunes owns this space.
Also, the statement "The digital quality is higher than what you download over the Internet..." might be true if they are talking about P2P but if you get it off iTunes its as good as it gets. They don't have some magical technology that makes music coming from their box sound better than music coming from the Internet. It's a laughable claim. I've heard claims like that from their founder before and its one reason why I don't think these guys have a long term play - a lot of hype and no substance.
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You can visit their site - Utahtechspotlight.com and sign up for an email reminder.
They have a little different play. If you are a brick and mortar store, how do you compete with iTunes? If I go in and they do not have the album I am looking for, I walk out and go to iTunes or some other on-line service. If they have it in the store, I will buy it because music is an impulse buy. If they can burn it form me or I can download right to an MP3, I can listen to it on the way home. I think a brick and mortar music store is nuts not to have something like this.
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