Apple and LaunchSquad: A Perfect Match
Apple has just published a profile about LaunchSquad that discusses how much we have relied on and benefited from using their products. It’s really nice recognition and we’re excited to be a featured company on their site.
When we first started LaunchSquad in late 1999, one of the first things Jesse, Jason and I decided was to buy a few PowerBooks. It was one of the easiest – and best – decisions we’ve made. Today of course, Apple is one of the hottest companies in the world, and they’ve gone through an endless string of smash hit products and innovations that have changed the faces of computing, entertainment, retail and, most recently, telecommunications. Back then however, there were no Apple stores, no iPods, no iPhones, and the company was still recovering from its mid-90s meltdown. Businesses did not typically standardize on the Mac platform at that time, but for us there was no question which way to go.
Dozens of laptops and countless other products later, the marriage has been hugely rewarding for us as we’ve evolved and grown over the years. Apple’s unrelenting focus on ease-of-use, reliability and smart design have been a perfect match for our sensibilities and culture. And what’s more, Apple feels some love for LaunchSquad too; well at least the folks in their small business group. Thanks guys.
LaunchSquad Client Leverage Lightens the Gift Card Load
We’re coming off a busy Fall, where one of the highlights was the launch of LA-based Leverage, Inc., a company that’s helping busy people manage gift cards, loyalty and rewards programs. The company’s flagship service, Leveragecard.com, is a single application that allows users to purchase, track and exchange gift cards, earn interest on gift card balances, enroll in and manage loyalty and reward programs and receive targeted offers and savings from retailers.
Gift cards have become the number one holiday gift and, as my colleague Leonora points out, it’s a little known fact that more than $8 billion in gift card value is lost each year.
We kicked off the launch with stories in TechCrunch and LA Times and then made a heavy broadcast TV push, landing coverage on CNN Headline News, Fox Business News, ABC News and CBS News. The company’s CEO Mark Roberts was also featured on CNBC’s Squawk Box discussing the impact of gift cards on the holiday shopping season.
Leverage is only scratching the surface on its vision to help busy consumers retain the value of their cards and help facilitate a better relationship between shoppers and the merchants with whom they do business. Stay tuned for more updates and visit Leveragecard.com to sign up. It’s free!
Annual Holiday Project
LaunchSquad felt more like Santa’s workshop than a PR Agency yesterday, as gifts were being wrapped and packed away in boxes and bags. “Pass the ribbon” and “do you have any extra tissue paper” were common refrains rather than the usual, “do you have time to read through this press release with me?” Today, the presents were delivered to the Family Support Services of the Bay Area, a private, nonprofit organization that provides support to parents and other caregivers of vulnerable children. LaunchSquad sponsored three families, each with a single mother and young son. We had been emailed their wish lists in mid-November and have been collecting presents up until this morning, when last minute kitchen supplies for our moms and some stocking stuffers for our boys came in. Amy Neal even made an 11th hour rush to the store to make sure that one of our little guys had AA batteries for his new remote control car.
Every year LaunchSquad supports a holiday project. Last year, we collected supplies for At the Crossroads, an local organization whose mission is to reach out to homeless youth and young adults at their point of need and work with them to build healthy and fulfilling lives. The previous year, we collected eyeglasses for Give the Gift of Sight, a family of charitable programs providing free vision care and eyewear to underprivileged people in North America and in developing countries around the world.
As it poured rain his morning, we filled the trunk of Jennifer Gazin’s Honda Element with packages covered in white plastic to protect them from the elements. It was a satisfying feeling for all! We have busy lives and sometimes it’s so easy to forget the little things we can do when we band together to make a difference. Seeing Jennifer’s car full of presents drive away brought to mind a recent sentiment that Brett Weiner had us all chanting at our end-of-year meeting last Friday: “When I say ‘LaunchSquad,” you say ‘Whatever it Takes!’”
End of Year Celebration
LaunchSquad’s annual end-of-year meeting and holiday party were held last Friday. We devoted the afternoon to get together as a group and participate in sessions on the state of the company, a summary of our employee survey, a review of LaunchSquad’s best of 2007, and a talk from Brett that concluded with a Larry Bird quote, the word “mensch” and a company cheer.
Then it was off to Nua, a chic-Mediterrean style restaurant in North Beach. With more than 40 party go-ers, it was a far cry from our first “event” in 2001 at JohnFrank, which totaled a mere eight (including spouses). Since then, we’ve had a string of memorable end-of-year gatherings, including last year’s at Absinthe and the 2005 bash at Cosmopolitan Café. This was a special occasion in that it was the first time all five of our East Coasters (who, led by recent transplant Jeremy Frank, created a hysterical short video about the NY office) were united with the San Francisco crew. The menu and atmosphere at Nua were outstanding and everyone thanked Michele Brusseau for organizing a perfect evening.
The highlight of the night was of course the annual company film, an elaborate 32-minute feature full of hilarious and poignant sketches, co-written, produced and directed by LaunchSquad partners Brett Weiner and Jesse Odell. As usual, this year’s version involved virtually every one of LaunchSquad’s 30 employees, with a few dogs and office neighbors thrown in. It also included some quality “user-generated content,” highlighted by a skit produced by Corey Lewis and Amy Neal, and a touching piece from Katie Cinnamond. Perhaps the funniest part was Jesse’s send-up of the famous Cheech & Chong “Dave” track using our favorite pugs Elvis and Gutterball playing Chong and Cheech respectively. Another favorite was a scene of Jennifer Gazin, Zoe Vandeveer, Jeremy Frank and Virginia Zimpel, impersonating Brett, Throck, Jesse and yours truly in a faux partner meeting.
Here’s to a great ’08.
LaunchSquad and ClairMail: Two Years Strong
Mobile banking is hot. If you’ve visited the Wells Fargo site recently you have undoubtedly seen ads for their mobile banking offering, and pretty much every other top 20 US bank has their own offering, or will have one very soon.
Novato-based ClairMail began as a mobile interaction platform that let people communicate with enterprise applications via SMS (text messaging) and email. This model lended itself perfectly to mobile banking which is now ClairMail’s core business. LaunchSquad and ClairMail have been working together for the past two years, and since then ClairMail has become a clear leader in the industry with several of the top 10 US banks as customers, including Wells Fargo and Wachovia, and recent partnerships with VeriSign and mobile banking vendor mFoundry.
It’s an interesting time in all things mobile – as the FCC prepares to auction off the highly desired 700 MHz spectrum, and carriers move (or pretend to move) to a more “open” model, the industry is definitely heating up. ClairMail was recently included in a BusinessWeek article about carriers not approving services to run on their network that they deemed competitive, including mobile banking. Open, they say? I think not.
It’s been an exciting and very educational two years with ClairMail, and as mobile banking and the wireless industry go through some significant changes in the near future, we’re expecting a fun ride.