In general, I try to keep my PIE world separate from the Silicon Florist world. Because we all know you have to put up with me blathering about PIE enough without me doing it here, too. But PIE has encountered a technical issue with the application platform used for the latest round of applications, so we’re trying to get the word out however we can.
Today was supposed to be like [Insert your favorite holiday on which you receive gifts in the morning] morning. A day where the hyping of PIE applications had subsided. Where entrepreneurs were able to breathe a sigh of relief about a job well done. And where the real and true effort for the PIE crew was about to begin. Where we could all excitedly bounce down the stairs in our bunny slippers and start shredding the wrapping paper to reveal a ton of awesome startups with amazing ideas and incredible founders.
But unfortunately, that was not to be.
We’re happy that there are a number of interesting new startups waiting patiently for PIE to review their applications. But as we were nearing the close of the applications, we became aware of an issue. It seemed that a few folks—who had contacted us via email or mentioned their application on social—didn’t appear to actually have their applications in the mix.
Ironically, this error was due to technology.
At PIE, we like startups. It’s why we started this whole experiment in the first place. So, whenever we have the chance, we opt for using startup products as part of our process. Whether they are PIE companies or not.
We just like supporting startups.
Most of the time, taking these calculated risks is positive all around, for both PIE and the startup. (Like Kato, am I right?) But every once in a while we encounter some issues. Which brings us to today’s post.
Unfortunately, we are experiencing an issue on the application platform we tried out for this class. A handful of folks have reached out to us, seeking confirmation that their application went through, as they did not receive the confirmation email. When we went searching, those folks didn’t turn up in the database.
Cue cold sweat.
We’re scrambling to rectify the situation.
All I can ask is this: If you applied, please see the PIE blog. If someone you know applied to PIE this year, would you mind making sure that they’re aware of the situation, please? And give them a hug for me. Because this sucks.
We feel awful. This stuff is stressful enough for startups without having to ask folks to apply twice. But we’re asking. Because it would be even worse if we missed out on an awesome idea with a great team. Simply because of a technical glitch.
[Insert Cover Oregon joke here.]
More details on the current effort and proposed resolutions can be found on the PIE blog.
