July 2007

Turning it up to 11

Posted Tue, 07/31/2007 - 7:07pm by Tac

We've had a great 4 months so far. This has been a great experiment in helping to drive the conversation around tech here in the valley. I've learned a lot and I'm ready to take things to the next level here on TechBoise.

I've got a few ideas about some changes I'd like to make to the site. We have some new contributors coming on board as well as some new functionality. But before I do any of that I'd like to hear some of your feedback. What do you like about what we're trying to do, what would you like to see different. Leave a comment and let me know.

Ubuntu Live and OSCON Conferences in PDX

Posted Mon, 07/23/2007 - 3:36pm by author

Greetings Tech Boise from your Pronetos pals. We're over here in Portland, OR for the Ubuntu Live Conference as well as the OSCON Conference.

For those of you who don't know, Ubuntu is a Linux based operating system that is taking the world by storm, to use a tired cliche - anyway -

The Pronetos site is built on Ubuntu, so we are here to check out some of the possibilities for further development of the site and to meet partners.

PDX Session 2 - O'Reilly's Keynote

Posted Mon, 07/23/2007 - 8:31pm by author

2:44 pm - On now, Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly media. He's talking about why he thinks Ubuntu is cool.

Ubuntu 2: Tim O'Reilly!

Posted Mon, 07/23/2007 - 8:32pm by author

2:44 pm - On now, Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly media. He's talking about why he thinks Ubuntu is cool.

Rails in Portland

Posted Mon, 07/23/2007 - 9:58pm by author

One of the things you notice in PDX is that everyone rides MAX. Yes, the public transportation system is well utilized. But I am here to talk about another kind of Rails - Ruby on Rails.

Last presentation of the day is deploying RoR on Ubuntu.

This is a really technical presentation geared towards developers. I am having to remember the OSI/RM. Actually I don't remember it at all.

Brad Taylor from Rails Machine is going through the Rails Stack deployment - Apache - Mongrel - MySQL - Ruby, etc. I probably messed this up.

Software and Web-App Developers Wanted to Assist with Research

Posted Wed, 07/25/2007 - 1:39pm by author

I am in the process of conducting some research as part of my company and would like to speak with some software or web-based application developers from the local area or surrounding states.

I have a short list of questions that I can either e-mail directly to you or, if you like, we can meet in person over lunch or coffee for no more than an hour in a sit down interview.

Building Clusters

Posted Wed, 07/25/2007 - 5:00pm by Tac

One of the things that I have heard people say, is that Boise needs a technology cluster.

It used to be that clusters grew organically out of spin-offs of larger companies (Intel is the classic example). But more and more we're seeing regions 'manufacture' clusters around certain industries.

This is beneficial to an area because it attracts a talent pool that multiple companies can draw from (among other reasons).

Let me ask you, what type of cluster should Boise try and establish? What type of cluster could we realistically build here?

Hoku Scientific in Entrepreneur Mag "Hot 500"

Posted Sun, 07/29/2007 - 11:04pm by author

I didn't even notice they were doing this, so I'm wondering if some Idaho companies would have made this list:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/hot500

Check the criteria for the list and if ANY of you think you'd qualify (or know someone who should), would you post here?

The closest Idaho had was #91 Hoku Scientific, a Hawaiian company whose biggest division will be in Pocatello. Nice vignette in the mag, one of only 5 they profiled.

I did see a Missoula firm (& a South Dakotan), but at first glance did not see any others in these parts.

Cheers!

IQ Idaho's Tech Issue

Posted Tue, 07/31/2007 - 6:58pm by Tac

IQ Idaho's tech issue is now out. I'd encourage everyone to grab a copy. There are several great articles throughout the issue. Norris and myself both contributed an article. There's also a great transcript of a roundtable discussion between several techfluentials in the valley (yes I just made up a word).

The great thing about this edition is that unlike past tech issues it paints a realistic picture of what's really going on here. Grab a copy and let me know what you think.

HIGHWAY 12 VENTURES RAISES $75 MILLION SECOND FUND

Posted Thu, 07/19/2007 - 4:03pm by author

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2007

HIGHWAY 12 VENTURES RAISES $75 MILLION SECOND FUND
Firm continues focus on high-growth opportunities in the Intermountain West

Boise, ID - July 17, 2007 - Highway 12 Ventures announced today that it has raised its second venture capital fund, Highway 12 Ventures II, totaling $75 million. Fund II will continue the firm's strategy on early-stage investments in the Intermountain West states of Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Montana.

The TechBoise Map

Posted Wed, 07/18/2007 - 2:44pm by Tac

Here's the email I received which is a standing open invitation to all tech companies in the valley. (Yes we willingly let them use the name. It is a good name after all.)

Put Your Company on the TechBoise Map!

Boise?ɬ¢?¢‚Äö¬¨?¢‚Äû¬¢s high-technology community is vibrant and entrepreneurial.

We want to capture these dynamics by creating a visual history of the high-tech economy in the Boise metropolitan area.

Show Me the Money

Posted Mon, 07/02/2007 - 8:36pm by author

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 2, 2007

Information Contact: Rick Ritter (208) 562-3700

Show Me the Money

Seven Idaho companies will participate in TechLaunch 4.0 in Boise July 11-12. Companies advanced to the state level from regional competitions held earlier this summer.

TechLaunch, in its fourth year, gives Idaho entrepreneurs the opportunity to practice their pitch in front of a murder board, comprised of 5 representatives from various sectors of the financing food chain.

Free jazz on 4th!

Posted Tue, 07/03/2007 - 7:23pm by author

I know this will appeal to about three of the regular readers on here. But if you want to hear real music (LOL):

Fourth of July Celebration at the Lake: 7 to 10 p.m., The Waterfront at Lake Harbor, 3050 N. Lake Harbor Lane, Boise. Music by Kevin Kirk and Sally Tibbs. Food and drink will be available. [but might as well make a picnic of it, eh?]

It's jazz standards - vocal piano plus nice rhythm section

10 Questions with TechLaunch Startups

Posted Wed, 07/04/2007 - 12:34am by Tac

In response to the upcoming TechLaunch event I have re-purposed our CEO questions (yeah I'm that lazy) for the TechLaunch participants.

Our first volunteer is Jason Christensen with U2ML. In his own words:

U2ML is a concept company that started in November of 2006. We noticed that a number of people were trying to take on new technologies but failing to "eat the elephant." In most cases it came down to being able to divide and conquer the tasks in a logical fashion. We introduced Enterprise Meta-Architecture, which is an advanced enterprise concept that uses ontology analysis to create manageable subdivisions of the technology space of an enterprise. Those subdivisions are then augmented with a taxonomy, topology, and strategy and they then can be used to create future enterprise architectures more quickly and efficiently than how enterprise architecture is done currently.

When looking at what we could do with Enterprise Meta-Architecture to show value and create a product, we had to look for things that would be beneficial to enterprises wishing to utilize it. We came across a concept we call SoxBoxes(tm). SoxBoxes(tm) is comprised of a hardware/software offering that uses our Enterprise Meta-Architecture concept for analysis, and then provides companies an off the shelf solution to meet their Sarbanes Oxley requirements for controls enforcement , reporting, and data lineage without having to rewrite or reimplement hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of existing enterprise applications.

10 questions with Pronetos

Posted Tue, 07/10/2007 - 4:07pm by author

Now that we are within the 24 hour window for TechLaunch, we figure its time to introduce you to Pronetos, one of the three presenting companies from this region. In a previous post, you met Jason and U2ML. Here is your chance to meet Chris and the Pronetos group. In his own words....

Pronetos, Inc. is the first venture launched by Chris Blanchard and his partners in LGM, LLC. Proentos is an on-line community for scholars and publisher of scholarly works.

Chris and Co-Founder Shane Carlson conceived of the idea for Pronetos after Chris published a paper in an academic journal and was frustrated with the slow process of peer review, and the minor distribution the paper received in print. They knew the process could be improved using the web, but in 2003 the web had not yet become a major collaborative tool. Indeed, the plans for Pronetos preceded the launch of MySpace. Once Chris and Shane saw that social networking communities were becoming ubiquitous, they set to work on the site.

live from TechLaunch!

Posted Thu, 07/12/2007 - 11:51am by author

Good morning - rookie live blogger here!

Idaho TechLaunch is about to, um, launch. Seven companies each have 20 minutes to pitch their venture (+10 min Q&A). If any of you have any questions, chime in.

1. OKOS

First up is Okos which uses nondestructive testing (NDT) tech out of INL - cool stuff but, alas, no positronic annihilation! (BTW, "Okos" is Hungarian for "smart/wise".) It's a real-time signal processing & analysis technology system. They've already got good stuff like digitizers (3 billion samples per second??) already in the market, ~$4 mill/yr?

Websites for TechLaunch participants

Posted Thu, 07/12/2007 - 5:16pm by author

OKOS www.okos.com

PRONETOS www.pronetos.com

IVUS www.ivusinc.com

U2ML www.u2ml.com

GoSleepGo www.gosleepgo.com

Check A Biz www.checkabiz.com

Meth Lab Cleanup www.methlabcleanup.com

You want to check these websites & drop a note to any of the founders congratulating them on being part of Idaho TechLaunch - they all acquitted themselves marvelously!

TechLaunch 4.0 musings

Posted Fri, 07/13/2007 - 2:48pm by author

As a first time contributor, let me first offer props to Tac for getting TechBoise off the ground. It's a tremendous contribution and long overdue for the Boise tech community to have a collaborative platform.

For those of you who didn't make it to yesterday's TechLaunch 4.0, you missed one of the best tech events I've seen in Boise since I moved here in 2000. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the seven presenting companies all had compelling value propositions and delivered clear and concise presentations.

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