Week in Review: February 24, 2014

The Silicon Bayou has been buzzing with tech and entrepreneurial news. Here are the most popular stories published on Silicon Bayou News in the past seven days:

Four Day Old Startup Airpnp Capitalizes on Golden Opportunity

“Never again will you say there ain’t no place to pee on Mardi Gras day.” Airpnp, a brand new, New Orleans-based startup, is applying the sharing economy business model to bathrooms. The platform takes care of lavatory logistics so you don’t have to. Airpnp allows people to rent out their bathrooms to people in their immediate location who need to use it. The platform also allows people to use their mobile phone to locate bathrooms available for rent in their immediate area.

Startup Weekend Venture BeneFit Launches Crowdfunding Campaign Through New Platform Ramen

BeneFit, the brand new fitness incentive platform based in New Orleans has teamed up with angel-backed Ramen to launch one of its first crowdfunding campaigns. Ramen is the first pre-order funding platform designed to help software startups find their early adopters and collaborators to develop the right minimum viable product. BeneFit, which was born out of the most recent Startup Weekend in New Orleans, capitalizes on internal desires by allowing individuals to track their personal fitness progress while also providing the opportunity to be part of the larger health-focused movement.

CSC Picks Bossier City for New Advanced Technology Center

On February 19th, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and David Zolet, Executive VP and GM at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) announced the company will be moving a technology center into the Bossier City-based National Cyber Research Park. After a competitive site-selection process, sifting through 134 locations across the country, CSC decided to become an anchor tenant at the 3,000-acre research park being developed by the Cyber Innovation Center. In four years, the 116,000-square-foot technology center will produce 800 jobs for the region.

The Rhythm of Ritual

Contributor Ann Marshall Thomas arrived to meet with Tim Williamson, Co-Founder and CEO of The Idea Village, armed with her laptop and a questions for her article. Instead, they ended up discussing her. Their conversation quickly turned into a discussion about what makes New Orleans so attractive. “The rhythm of ritual: that’s what New Orleans does well,” Tim said. “And we wanted to create that same rhythm of ritual with an ‘Entrepreneur Season,’ which culminates with New Orleans Entrepreneur Week and The Big Idea.” Find out more here.

Financial Fridays: March Networking Opportunities for New Orleans Business Owners

Hibernia Bank’s latest installment highlights the top networking opportunities for local business owners, including NOLA Fashion Week, YLC’s Wednesday at the Square, and the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce “Green Seminar.”

Check Out Good Eggs’ Awesome NOLA Headquarters

This post originally appeared on CanalStreetBeat.com, a sister site to Silicon Bayou News, which covers all things commercial real estate news in New Orleans. After Good Eggs expanded to New Orleans, the company moved from an 800 square-foot space in the Bywater to a newly renovated warehouse located at 1770 Tchoupitoulas Street. The company occupies around 4,500 square feet of space in the Centennial Cotton Press building. Check out more photos of the space here.

Selling Your Old Phone: What You Need to Know

Vico Marziale of 504ensics explains what you need to know when selling your old phone. The general process includes: backing up your current settings and data, removing extra data cards like your SIM card and SD cards, wiping the device clean (destroy the data) so that none of your stuff is recoverable, notifying your carrier that the phone is no longer yours, and safely profiting. Read the iOS and Android specific advice here.

Shreveport Teenager Launches Company to Build Education Technology

Juma Labs Founder Justin Martin, who recently graduated from Caddo Magnet High School, started his software development company over the summer to build technology with a mission to improve education. Martin is now joined by high school friend and software engineer Ron De Benedetti. Juma Labs is now housed in Cohab, a workspace in Shreveport, and will be leading the Young Entrepreneurial Programs in 2014. The young entrepreneurs are already off to a strong start. After putting their first app FlipQuiz on hold, Juma Labs began working on Write Something, which allows anyone to publish a textual work on the site.

Godfather of Growth: Focus is the Fuel of Rapid Growth

This month’s Godfather of Growth post discusses focus.  Focus is the fuel of rapid growth, according to Don Lazzari. “In order to take dead aim on a market segment, you need to spend a lot of time thinking about who your ideal customer is and you have to be very specific – as if your life depended on it.  This will take time and many paths may lead to dead ends.  But if you successfully maneuver all of the obstacles, the results can transform your business.” Click here to find out about the most common mistakes you need to avoid.

Propeller Announces Third Installment of PitchNOLA Series

Propeller, the non-profit that incubates innovative community-based ventures to solve New Orleans’ social and environmental challenges has announced PitchNOLA 2014: Living Well. The third installment of the PitchNOLA social innovation competition will focus on health and wellness throughout the city.

Challenge for Entrepreneurs – Making Social Media Work for You

“How can your business be a step ahead of your competition?” asks contributing writer Mark Lewis. Content, and how you leverage it, should be the center of your social media efforts. Lewis also discusses whether or not an individual or brand should embrace mobile. Click here to read the full article.