http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog News from the Babson College Community Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:38:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Mission: We Use the Web to Help Businesses Grow The Start: December 2008 Revenues: $50K+ Initial Investment: $0 Broke Even: Immediately Where: Boston, MA Your name, email, phone: Ross Beyeler, ross@growthspark.com, 978-401-4141 Babson Affiliation: Class of 2009 Employees: 4 Founder’s Past: A graduate of Babson College, Ross has been an active entrepreneur in the technology space since 2005 with ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2010/02/06/growth-spark/ Business: LiveFyre; www.livefyre.com Mission: To inspire and facilitate conversation about what’s going on in the world right now. The Start: Incorporated in April 2009. Left our full-time jobs in July. Launched the site December 7, 2009 Revenues: We have two main streams of revenue: advertising and licensing. Mini Cooper signed on as our ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2010/01/19/improving-on-line-conversations-with-livefyre/ Name of business: Taylor Stitch; www.taylorstitch.com Mission: Our mission is to partner technology and American tailoring to create custom fit dress shirts of incredible value and to distill the world marketplace through the lens of craftsmanship and value. Founded: 2008   Initial Investment: $20,000 Broke Even: Not yet, but soon… Where: San Francisco  Founders: Barrett Purdum ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2010/01/11/taylor-stitch-custom-fit-dress-shirts-are-the-buzz-in-san-francisco/ Ankota CTO Ken Accardi is quoted in a new Babson video promoting the Fast Track MBA. Ankota is the pioneering company in the field of Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM). Ankota provides Home Care Software Solutions delivered via the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model that improves efficiency and compliance within Home Healthcare Operations. All ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2010/01/05/ankota-co-foundercto-in-fast-track-mba-video/ Name of business: Mi-Bra Founder/s: Carolina Baker ‘05, carolina.baker@gmail.com The beginning: A little more than a year ago, I took long distance running up as a hobby and started participating in marathons. I immediately noticed a need for an eco-friendly women's sports bra with a pocket. So I contacted a manufacturer in ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2009/12/29/exercising-more-comfortably/ Shortly following a successful launch this past August, MBA alumni business Common Soles LLC, is now announcing the release of two new styles of flip-flops. The sales of these two new styles will generate funding to support education in the region of India in which they were crafted. Common Soles LLC, ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2009/12/28/common-soles-flip-flop-styles-fund-education-in-india/ Rockler Woodworking and Hardware, the nation’s leading supplier of specialty hardware, tools, lumber and woodworking products, has announced a strategic alliance with MBA business CustomMade Ventures, an established online resource and marketplace connecting woodworkers with buyers of custom-built wood furniture, cabinets and woodcrafts. This partnership (details at http://www.Rockler.com/CustomMade) aims to ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2009/12/27/mba-biz-custommade-ventures-strategic-alliance-wrockler-woodworking-and-hardware/ Name of business: Napkin Labs, Inc. Mission: Deliver game-changing products and services to clients by democratizing the process of innovation. Description: Napkin Labs is an online, collaborative innovation service designed to rapidly deliver generation Y-centric new product and service concepts to our clients.  Our distributed model of innovation blends the creative energy ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2009/12/27/business-profile-napkin-labs-inc/ Five teams of Babson MBA students showcased their new products developed during the graduate, single-semester Product Design and Development course (MOB-7555). Design-that-Matters and Essential Design were project sponsors.  Babson Professor Sebastian Fixson is the faculty director. Students were encouraged with prototyping support and engineering advice from Olin College of Engineering.  ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2009/12/08/2009-mba-product-design-fair-showcases-innovative-ideas/ Mass High Tech reports that Fitnesskeeper, Inc., founded by Jason Jacobs M’05, has received $400,000 seed-stage investment from LaunchCapital. The company was founded in June 2008, and is based in Boston.  Jacobs is a runner who came up with the idea for RunKeeper while training for the Chicago Marathon, which he ... http://blogs.babson.edu/babson_news_blog/2009/12/05/fitnesskeeper-receives-400000-seed-stage-investment/