InsideView Drives Social Intelligence for Business
As we round the corner past 2009, it’s looking as if all-things 2.0 and real-time will continue to be the tech-buzz zeitgeist and a major theme of 2010. From real-time streaming media and news, social enterprise applications and more, the envelope is being pushed to deliver anything in its socially relevant format. This sits on the core principle that the importance of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others – i.e, the information these networks contain – has exploded.
Our client InsideView has been driving the effort to put this new social information to work for businesses in some pretty exciting ways. The company’s flagship application, SalesView, works to deliver what they call Sales 2.0 – or social intelligence for the sales profession – leaving behind clunky old legacy data providers like Hoover’s and OneSource for more than 20,000 information sources that work in a more open and fluid world. In May, InsideView rolled out a huge evolution of its technology which harnessed social Web data for any sales person to easily access and act upon within their existing CRM. As TechCrunch said in its coverage of the launch, “InsideView’s service is helpful in filtering business information and news that lives on social media platforms to help enterprises create a knowledge base around a potential sales lead.”
It’s an approach that hasn’t been lost on InsideView’s customers. As BNET’s David Weir wrote last week, “There was a time that all you needed was your Hoover’s, your Dun & Bradstreet, and access to the latest SEC filings in order to keep up. Those days are gone … disruptive technology companies like InsideView look to me to be poised to eat their lunch.”
As hundreds of companies are looking for smarter CRM, leading enterprise solutions provider NetSuite chose InsideView as a premier partner in its effort to bring all enterprise platforms – beyond CRM and into the world of ERP, HR and billing – to a more social and productive place. When ReadWriteWeb wrote on the news, they agreed that this is an “unfolding trend” which will “create a more measured look at how Enterprise 2.0 applications fit with back office functions.”
Other writers like Dan Woods from Forbes.com, or thought leaders such as Andrew McAfee (coiner of the phrase ‘Enterprise 2.0′ itself) agree. As Woods recently wrote in his Forbes article titled Tracking a Million Conversations, “The big-picture value comes from putting a technique to use in the context of a business. InsideView enables a sales person who is evaluating which leads to pursue to make better decisions by seeing more information on the background and context of the company.”
InsideView is a game-changer, diving into the social Web, digging in to the real-time inner-workings, and then providing a practical and enterprise-wide solution (whether it’s in salesforce.com or on-premise suites from Oracle/Siebel – the company works with all major CRM vendors) that anyone can start using.
Now that’s real social intelligence!
LaunchSquad’s Fifth Annual Thanksgiving Pie Bake-off
The much-anticipated fifth annual Thanksgiving Pie Bake-off promised fifteen pies, but delivered ten. There was not one plain old pumpkin in the bunch, but lots of bourbon. So much so that the Bake-off Committee regretted moving the date from a Friday to a Wednesday. Adding to the commotion were accusations that blue ribbon winner Brett Weiner, who would have been out-of-town for the original contest, bribed the committee members to change the date. Did he also buy some votes?
Let’s roll it out:
This year’s winner was Apple Pie with Walnut Crumble with a Rye Chaser baked by Brett Weiner and touted as traditional apple pie with a very big twist. “Anything with a walnut topping and a whiskey chaser gets my gets my vote,” said former Bake-off Committee member, Virginia Zimpel. Other bakers cried foul–maybe the tasters were too inebriated to know any better?
Meanwhile, in New York
LaunchSquad’s New York office also had an unsanctioned, rogue pie bake-off today, with Aly Gibson’s Caramel Apple Pie with Sweet Cream Topping taking top honors. Though the bake-off wasn’t officially OK’d by the Pie Bake-Off Committee, the competitive spirit of the original contest was certainly there. Said Gibson, “The sweetness of this pie is really the taste of my blood, sweat, and tears. … I am hardcore.”
Fellow New Yorker Miko Mercer called the pie “exquisite,” saying it was “the most complex pie of the bunch.” Mercer also added, however, that Aly was “a little intense” during the competition.
The rest of the pies at our home office broke down as such:
2nd Place
Pumpkin Cheesecake baked by Sara Schulte. A Bake-off Committee member was reprimanded for showing bias by lavishly praising the delicious pie (or is it a cake).
Tied for 3rd Place
Southern Pecan Pie baked by Tory Whitney. The quintessential pecan pie! Delicious.
Apple Bourbon Pie baked by Corey Lewis. While the lattice top crust was quite impressive, Baker Corey Lewis complained of his pie’s lack of sweetness. “I needed Washington apples,” he lamented.
Deep-dish Pumpkin Pie with Whiskey Butter cream baked by year-three winner Monica Miller. “Beautiful enough to sell in a bakery, but I don’t like pecans,” said the always-controversial taster, Jason Mandell.
Kentucky Derby Chocolate-Pecan Pie baked by Bake-off darling, Melissa Biles. ”Rich and scrumptious,” said an anonymous taster, “bring on the mint julips!”
Tied for 4th Place
The Pookie Pie baked by newcomer Steve Mnich. “We’ve never seen or tasted anything like this before,” said the Bake-off Official, Jason Throckmorton. “Is it a pie? Is it a cake? Is it a culinary nightmare?” The Pookie Pie was almost disqualified, however, the Bake-off Committee accused of working too closely with the LaunchSquad Kitchen KGB, decided to show some heart.
Pumpkin Apple Crisp baked by Aly Brady. “Not a pie, not a pie,” complained many bakers though the Committee interpreted it as a “crustless pie” with all the right components.
Tied for Last Place (only because the bakers showed some virtue and did not vote for themselves)
Maple Nut Pie baked by Greer Karlis, AKA the “trail-mix pie,” as some deemed it too healthy for LaunchSquad standards. The bake-off committee gave it an A for its colorful presentation and its healthy splash of booze.
The Yammer inspired by our favorite internal form of communication, Yammer, baked by first-time ever pie baker, Emilie Cole. Emilie complained that Martha Stewart’s instructions were too difficult and plans on using Rachael Ray’s 3-minute pie recipe next year.
Please also note that LaunchSquad pie recipes are not available to the public.
An EPIX Adventure
Epic. It’s overused.
Back when I lived in the Colorado Rockies, the snowboarders would come down from the mountain and proclaim they had an epic day of riding. Alright, I get that – floating through a couple feet of powder on a 5 foot board IS pretty sweet, and sometimes, there’s no other way to describe the pure weightless joy you experience while gliding down the mountain. But an epic day at work? A tweet about the epic #fail of a new device? That’s selling out the true, mythical meaning of the word: “of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an epic.”
As in Homer. It’s like the Iliad, bro – to hearken back to the mountain town dialect of my past.
So, now I put one of our very own clients under the same linguistic scrutiny: EPIX. EPIX officially launched on October 30, and it generated a lot of buzz in the tech and consumer world. TechCrunch, Lifehacker, Ars Technica, EngadgetHD, Fast Company, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, NewTeeVee and many others took note.
So, what, exactly, makes EPIX worthy of such a loaded name? Just take a look at the story:
First off, there’s the leading actors, the studios: Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM. These are three of the most well-known, blockbuster-creating studios of all time, and, after theatrical and DVD releases, they’re distributing their movies on EPIX’s television channel, Video on Demand and Web site, EpixHD.com. More platforms – like mobile – are in the works as well.
The plot’s pretty riveting, too – even by Hollywood standards. EPIX has found a way to get movies to consumers whenever and wherever they want them. EPIX is also trying to rise above the status quo with its emphasis on consumer experience, packaging great films with the latest in social viewing and in-depth movie information and behind the scenes extras to create a truly immersive movie-watching experience.
Throughout the course of our adventure, EPIX is our entertainment experience hero. With more feature films on demand and online and more HD movies than any other service, EPIX is delivering what consumers want to watch on the platforms they want to see it on. Verizon FiOS has signed up to carry the service so far, and folks who subscribe to their Internet and cable offerings can tune in to the TV channel, log on to the site and drop into the most awesome movie service out there today.
If you want to check out EPIX, visit www.epixhd.com/invite to request a 72-hour invite.
EcoFactor Brings Energy Efficiency Home
Whether it’s recycling, carpooling, or buying sustainable products, most of us are trying in one way or one another to be more environmentally friendly these days. While some of these are no-brainers, others – like reducing energy usage – often require more expertise and insight than the average consumer has. Given that simply heating and cooling the home amounts to nearly 50 percent of the average household’s total energy spend, eco-conscious consumers have a two-fold interest in reducing their energy consumption in this area.
Now, thanks to LaunchSquad client EcoFactor, the guesswork is being taken out of energy reduction as it relates to heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC). EcoFactor, which officially launched last week after more than three years of research and development , provides a Web-based residential energy management solution for homeowners. EcoFactor creates a “thermal blueprint” of each individual home that takes into account things like outside weather, the physical characteristics of the home, and home owner preferences in order to develop a customized heating and cooling strategy.
Unlike the other energy solutions on the market – like the “Energy Saver” mode on some thermostats – EcoFactor’s solution takes a personalized approach to energy reduction, rather than following a one-size-fits-all model. The result? An HVAC auto-pilot that operates like your car’s cruise control to optimize energy usage and deliver savings of up to $300 per year for the average homeowner.
EcoFactor’s launch and the announcement of its first customer, Texas utility Oncor, generated significant buzz in the clean tech space, and was featured everywhere from The New York Times to CNET to Earth2Tech and Fast Company. Next up, the company will vie for the National Clean Tech Open award at the CTO gala on November 17 as a regional finalist in the Smart Power category.