Week in Review: April 29, 2013

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:

 

From Internet Clones to a Celebrity Curated Ecommerce Site: One New Orleanian’s International Adventure

If you’ve ever wondered what a German startup clone incubator and a local fashion ecommerce site have in common, you’re in for a treat. German-based Rocket Internet is an online startup incubator that replicates successful companies. They hired New Orleanian Jake Kupperman to work for the successful Australian-based ecommerce brand The Iconic. From there, he moved back to the states and launched another ecommerce site, Gentology, which is celebrity curated and just for men. Read all about his international adventure here.

The “Brain Gain”: A Joint Effort to Unify the NOLATech Community

Contributor Jason Seidman shares his thoughts on the brain gain and NOLATech community. He said, “The entire mindset of our city is changing. The thinking has shifted. It’s starting to feel like people are expecting greatness now. We’re planning how to sustain and grow our success, rather than simply how to create it. While that may only seem to be an insignificant change (or not one at all), this is actually a huge milestone in our city’s long and admirable progression. Likewise, many people outside of the city are taking note of this new mindset.”

Be Well Nutrition and Haystack EDU Win Combined $70K at Tulane Pitch Competitions

The Tulane Business Plan Competition (TBPC) and the Domain Companies New Orleans Entrepreneur Challenge both went off without a hitch on Friday, April 19th. Be Well Nutrition, a health product company that produces the lifestyle beverage ICONIC won the Tulane Business Plan Competition and the $50K the company was vying for since the announcement of the competition’s finalists last month. The local company that is considered Match.com for education purposes, Haystack EDU, took home the $20,000 prize from the Domain Companies New Orleans Entrepreneur Challenge.

Startup Effect Teams with LinkedIn and Local Companies, Teaches Valuable Entrepreneurial Lessons to Students

English, math, science, humanities, and now entrepreneurship. Two Venture for America (VfA) fellows, Mike Mayer and Billy Schrero, are taking eighth grade education to the next level by teaching entrepreneurship through the VfA youth initiative Startup Effect. It’s a hands-on, action-based, experiential learning program that engages the students and provides them with valuable tools for the future.

Pitch Competition During Launch Fest Will Award Jazz Fest Tickets to Winner

Silicon Bayou News and Launch Pad are teaming up to present an online pitch competition next Thursday, May 2nd, during Launch Fest. Similar to last year, the competition will be opened on VoteIt.com, an online consensus-building platform and 2012 Ignition company. Anyone who would like to participate can pitch their idea through the platform by adding it as an option when voting opens. One winner will receive two tickets to Jazz Fest! Register to attend Launch Fest through Eventbrite here

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Class Accepting Applications through April 29th

Applications for the 2013 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses classes at Delgado Community College are now being accepted as announced by the university’s Chancellor Monty Sullivan last week. The 11-session business management program will be held on campus over a three-month period. The application deadline is today, April 29th. Click here to download an application or visit the 10,000 Small Businesses web site for additional details.

Help Sustain New Orleans Entrepreneurship by Hiring Locally

Adriana Lopez encourages companies and startups to hire locally in an attempt to sustain entrepreneurship in New Orleans. She said, “The work is not even close to being over. In order to be a success, we must sustain the businesses that are here, and prove to the world that we are in fact a business and cultural center, with plenty of talent to show for it. While many people praise the city as being a “startup hub,” I argue that it will be the business center of the south.”

Ruston-Based SchoolInfoApp Brings Customized Apps to Schools Around the World

Some of the best innovations stem from passionate entrepreneurs seeking to solve a problem. When Jordan Riggs was having trouble keeping track of the sports schedules of his six kids, he set out to find a mobile app to organize it all. Riggs never found any up-to-par app, so he and his wife created TeamInfoApp in 2011, which has since morphed into SchoolInfoApp to cover school news and scheduling beyond athletics.

State-of-the-Art Media Studio to Launch Out of Louisiana Technology Park

In a press conference last week, the Louisiana Technology Park launched its new project, a media studio called Level Up Lab. It’s a state-of-the-art studio, which is the first of its kind in the south. It aims to bring in and create new media, an ever-growing industry, in Louisiana.

All About You: Natasia Malaihollo

From a modeling contract to the realization that she has a passion for academics, Natasia Malaihollo attended Berkeley where she studied BioChem until finally falling in love with the legal studies department. Like many future entrepreneurs, she climbed the corporate ladder until one day she had a dream. Malaihollo now owns a startup called Sooligan. It’s an app to help you find, quick, up-to-date, and accurate local information about any city in the world. Read more about her here.

Local Inter-Organizational Team Utilizes Project Management Software to Design a Creative Curriculum

A motivated team of online learning specialists in New Orleans made a breakthrough last month in education case management. Using project management software Webplanner, the team led by Dr. Mollie Allarcon at Ochsner Health Systems was able to help a child with learning disabilities by creating and tracking his curriculum.

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We’d like to thank our April sponsor: Search Influence. Want to be a sponsor? Email Julia@SiliconBayouNews.com!