1 Million Cups of Coffee and Startups

Note Added 11/11/2015: Since this post was first published the venue has moved to the Law Offices ofProcopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP.  It is otherwise ongoing and, from recent reports a fascinating event to experience and a great opportunity to network.

Every Wednesday morning at the Co-Merge co-working space and business center, in downtown San Diego, One Million Cups hosts a venue for startups and entrepreneurs to present a talk about their activities and a chance to practice their presentations for potential investors. This initiative is part of a national program sponsored by The Kauffman Foundation. This week the two startups that gave presentations were Brandisty.com and Localeikki.

Brand Identities in The Cloud

The first presentation was by Alex Rolek the founder of Brandisty.com. This Internet startup provides one place in the cloud to manage all your brand information. Brands are an aspect of every organization. They provide a white label platform for enterprise clients with custom-built packages; a starter package is a way to get in at entry level. Brandisty.com have a growing list of corporate users including many well-known brands such as 99Designs, Live-strong Foundation and Fitbit. Rolek announced that 99Designs.com plans to use it for all submissions, to validate the design and to standardize logo embedding of vector files and images. Bootstrapped up without raising cash funding through agency work. Now the need is to just get the word out and education of the possibilities. Always seeking introductions. The more brands see it the more that the word spreading in a network effect. Media strategy and marketing are mainly blogging and content strategy. The word is spread as content providers speak about it.

Solution For Active Outdoor Travelers

People who enjoy outdoor activities and who must travel for other reasons need a system that finds suitable locations to run, walk, hike and bike, according to Tracy McMillan the founding partner who gave the presentation. The smartphone application for active travelers, Localeikki will help users find trails and parks at your travel destination. The founders of Localeikki believe that fitness is a strong market with potential for useful applications. Targeting running as their initial outdoor activity because it has few equipment needs. Targeting the early adopter who is a runner who travels for business. The founders moved to San Diego from Phoenix to be a part of the local startup community. They are currently honed in on the running community because of the ease of access and lack of needed equipment. It is one market that has a large base. Once the process is established they will be expanding the scope to include all other activities that fit the structure.

Initiative To Provide A Forum To Startups And Entrepreneurs

While the Kauffman Foundation does not endorse or offer to fund, this is an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs to get up in front of a room full of startup-savvy listeners and make their case. They are in forty-two cities across the US and will soon be launching in nineteen more. If you present in one city you are then entitled to pitch again at any of the other locations. If you have an interest in entrepreneurialism and tech startups in San Diego I encourage you to attend the event at the Co-Merge Workplace, 9 A.M. Wednesdays or follow 1Million Cups San Diego on their Facebook page.