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Category: News

Wiki-based AboutUs edits its offerings

Rick Turoczy on January 10, 2008

AboutUsPortland-based AboutUs, the wiki that has rapidly become the de facto source for company Web site information, has announced three new service offerings that promise to improve the promotional nature and the utility of AboutUs services. Not to mention, help the AboutUs bottom line.

The new services include:

  1. Monitor any page on AboutUs for free. Now, anyone (you don’t even have to have an account) can monitor any wiki page on the AboutUs site for changes. Think of it like Google Alerts for your Web site profile.
  2. Hire an AboutUs expert to design your presence. Sure, the beauty of wikis (wiki? wikia?) is that they can be edited on the fly. But, let’s be honest, that doesn’t always make for the prettiest presentation. To help solve this problem, AboutUs is now offering a premium services package that includes in-house design and personalized wiki coaching for a one-time fee of $99.
  3. Sponsor a collection of pages. AboutUs is also introducing the option of sponsoring a collection of links on a given topic—they refer to these landing pages as “portals”—that aggregate business listings and functionality like calendaring and maps for cities around the world and industry verticals. Obviously, my favorite portal page is the Portland Tech Portal. Although I must admit, I’m quite fond of the Portland Tech Blogs page, as well.

But perhaps the most interesting part of the AboutUs announcement is the level of traffic (emphasis is mine) these guys are generating. And the types of revenues to which that traffic may lead.

Though AboutUs is a collaborative project built together by people from around the world, it needs none the less to be economically viable. Advertising revenue from 5 million monthly unique visitors to the site and Portal level sponsorships are already coming in. The new products launching today should lead to a further, substantial increase in site traffic and company revenue.

No doubt, the Silicon Florist page on AboutUs has a great deal to do with those numbers.

Allen Stern of CenterNetworks has also covered the AboutUs news, highlighting:

Clearly it’s working based on the traffic they are receiving. I like the options they are offering to monetize the site past AdSense and the monitoring could help clear up sticky edits quickly. Again, this relies on a business even knowing there is an AboutUs page about them.

AboutUs is a wiki whose goal is to create a free and valuable Internet resource containing information both about websites and other community created topics/information. The site was pre-populated with information about many different websites and thousands of updates are now being made by people each day. For more information on AboutUs, see its AboutUs page.

I Want Sandy on Twitter

Rick Turoczy on December 18, 2007

That’s a statement. Not a demand.

I Want Sandy, the anthropomorphic digital assistant (whom I always cover so I have the opportunity to use the word “anthropomorphic”) from Portland-based Values of n, has expanded her available inbound communications repertoire, as it were. She is now available to take your messages and requests as @s on Twitter.

Add her as a friend. She’ll add you. And the tweets will be flying in no time.

Sandy regularly polls Twitter asking for any new direct private messages meant for her eyes only. Each message you twitter is associated with your Twitter user name and account which Sandy checks against the Twitter user name she has on file for your iwantsandy.com account.

For more, see the I Want Sandy Twitter FAQ. Or see Rael Dornfest’s comment on the newest Twitter-based I Want Sandy features.

Kryptiq repeats as Oregon’s most admired privately held technology company

Rick Turoczy on December 7, 2007

I received word, last night, that Hillsboro-based Kryptiq, makers of technology that streamlines healthcare communications, has been named the fifth most respected company in Oregon—up two spots from last year—by the Portland Business Journal. And, for the second year in a row, it’s also the highest ranking privately held technology company on the list.

Votes were collected from more than 2,000 Oregon-based CEOs who were asked to select the companies they most admire in a number of different industries. In all, 87 different companies were nominated in the technology category. Other organizations recognized in the category include HP, Microsoft, Tektronix, Intel, and Flir Systems.

(I haven’t seen anything from the Portland Business Journal, but I’ll make sure to post once I find it.)

Kryptiq streamlines healthcare communications among patients, providers, pharmacies and health plans with secure messaging, electronic prescribing, disease management and contract management technologies. By integrating these solutions with existing systems and applications, Kryptiq enables the trusted transport of health information where and when it is needed. For more information on the company, see Kryptiq.

JanRain heralds the release of OpenID 2.0

Rick Turoczy on December 5, 2007

Portland-based JanRain, arguably the most active proponent of the OpenID standard, has announced the release of, and support for, OpenID 2.0.

The latest version of OpenID assures its position as the dominant standard for next-generation digital identity. With new features that improve security and usability of OpenID, the user-centric single sign-on and online user-authentication standard is primed for mass adoption and widespread disruption across the Internet.

[Editor: For those of you who use the OpenID login for Silicon Florist comments, please do let me know if anything breaks, given these latest changes.]

JanRain is the driving force behind the adoption of OpenID services. Based in Portland, OR, the company has delivered the first comprehensive communications and reputation platform, Pibb, leveraging OpenID’s decentralized and user-centric identity. For more information, visit JanRain.

MyStrands lands $24 million in funding

Rick Turoczy on December 5, 2007

Yesterday, Corvallis, Oregon, based MyStrands announced that they have secured an additional $24 million in funding, increasing the total capital raised by the company to $55 million. The round, led by Spanish bank Grupo BBVA, is slated primarily for continued research & development and product development.

This round of funding has been covered by TechCrunch and Profy, among others. [Update] And I’ll sheepishly add Portland’s Marshall Kirkpatrick’s coverage of the MyStrands’ funding from Read/Write Web. (I didn’t see it in the trackbacks, I swear! And, seriously, have you ever seen that many possessives in one sentence? I mean, really?)

MyStrands develops technologies to better understand people’s taste and help them discover things they like and didn’t know about. MyStrands has created a social recommender engine that is able to provide real-time recommendations of products and services through computers, mobile phones and other Internet-connected devices. For more information, see MyStrands.

(Hat tip Brooks Jordan)

SplashCast woos former Starbucks and Nike exec to team, board

Rick Turoczy on December 5, 2007

It’s always nice to see our local startups getting all growed up.

Portland-based SplashCast, the media service that lets you cook all sorts of media together into a single player, has announced the hiring of Charlie Baker as an Executive Vice President. Baker will also occupy a seat on the SplashCast board of directors.

In his new role, Baker will be focusing on business development in sports and entertainment, areas in which he boasts a wealth of expertise:

Baker has 25 years experience in implementing successful business strategies for start-ups, mid market and Fortune 500 companies. As General Manager/Divisional Vice President of Nike Global Retail, he built and grew the $1.2B global business unit. As a member of Nike’s Executive Leadership Team, Mr. Baker was responsible for leading the strategy of Nike’s $12B global businesses. In addition, Charlie was CEO of Starbucks Australia and CEO of a venture-backed media company, FamilyWonder.com, which he led through successful acquisition by Sega.

For more information, see SplashCast.

19Marketplace releases Workplace2Go

Rick Turoczy on November 27, 2007

Vancouver, Washington, based 19Marketplace has announced the release of its one-stop shop for subscribing to software as a service (SaaS) business applications, Workplace2Go.

Targeted at small businesses who might not have the time to research and cobble together individually available tools, Workplace2Go is designed to provide single-sign-on access to traditional enterprise apps for a monthly subscription.

Initial products include WebEx conferencing and Intranet tools, Microsoft Exchange Server, Blackberry messaging services, McAfee antivirus, and Arsenal backup, among others.

For more information, see additional coverage from GigaOm and NW Innovation. Or visit the 19Marketplace and Workplace2Go sites.

Walker Tracker puts walkiness next to (Greek) godliness

Rick Turoczy on November 20, 2007

Portland-based Walker Tracker, a community for pedometer-wearing walkers to track their steps over time, has announced the release of a “pro” version of its service and a new feature for everyone: competition.

Walker Tracker Pro is a for-pay feature with a user-set pricing model, ala Radiohead’s In Rainbows and LibraryThing. Initial features include daily rank, charting aerobic steps, and priority email support. Paying for the service also removes ads.

As for competition:

You can now lay down the step gauntlet against any other walker on the site, and even challenge those who have yet to join.

No one in your league for competition? Well. then step it up to the next level by choosing to compete against a Greek god, then. (Personally, I’m waiting until my favorite Greek god, Hephaestus, shows up as an option.)

For more information, see Walker Tracker.

Greenlight Greater Portland names additional execs

Rick Turoczy on November 14, 2007

I thought I would take the opportunity to introduce Greenlight Greater Portland, because, unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely that the image-based copy and PDF content on the Greenlight Greater Portland Web site will have the organization appearing in your search engine results anytime soon.

And to have you miss this organization would—quite honestly—be a shame.

Greenlight Greater Portland is charged with attracting businesses to the Silicon Forest. And that type of effort always bodes well for those of us in the startup environment. The rising tide floats all boats and whatnot.

Greenlight Greater Portland is a predominately private-sector group devoted to fostering the sustained economic vitality of the four-county region of Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah and Washington counties in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. Led by the area’s top business leaders, Greenlight Greater Portland introduces new businesses to the wide range of enviable resources here: industrial, human, natural, financial and technological.

Greenlight Greater Portland announced the appointment of a full-time CEO earlier this year. Now, they’ve added a vice president of “research and business attraction” and a VP of marketing, who will no doubt work to improve the Web site, he said in a hopeful voice. [Update] And hope continues to flourish as Portlandville posts some well wishing and insight on the new VP of Marketing, Gillian Floren.

For more information, visit the Greenlight Greater Portland Web site or see previous coverage from Oregon Startups. To learn more about the new execs, read the press release or see the coverage in The Oregonian.

Jive outgrows its current digs

Rick Turoczy on October 30, 2007

With its recent infusion of funding and rash of hiring, Portland-based Jive Software is outgrowing its current space at 317 SW Alder.

No word on whether they’ve selected new digs or not.

But their old space—exposed brick and all—will soon be up-for-grabs.

Jive Software develops award-winning collaboration software that improves a company’s productivity through open collaboration among employees, partners and customers. For more information, visit Jive Software.

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