Kansas City Mompreneur Changes The Way We Say "Thank You"

There just wasn't enough time to book a face-to-face interview with Amy Marin Carlson, founder of Kansas City startup Growing Gratitude.  However, I was lucky enough to snag 15 minutes or so on the phone with the passionate mompreneur during her kids' nap time.  But between the shouts and laughter from her kids in the background, the deadlines Amy was hoping to hit for her startup's new Indiegogo campaign and the need to get dinner on the table, it wasn't necessary for me to meet Amy in person.  I could tell just from chatting for a few minutes that she was a busy, successful mompreneur, proving that some entrepreneurs can really do it all--with a little patience, of course.

What is Growing Gratitude?  
Growing Gratitude is an iOS and Android app for sending personalized, authentic and creative thank-you videos in a fun digital format.  "I want to change the way we say thanks to one another," says Amy Marin Carlson, founder of Kansas City startup Growing Gratitude.  The startup, which launched its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign just a few weeks ago, hopes to raise $42,000 by November 19, 2012.

Great Ideas Come From Strange Places
As many entrepreneurs know, great ideas come from strange places.  Who would have thought that the idea for a mobile app would come out of a 2 year old's birthday party?  While throwing her son's party, Amy realized how difficult it would be for her son to thank everyone for the gifts (without having her write the thank-you cards herself).  Now, children of all ages can thank party-goers and gift-givers with a simple recording on Growing Gratitude.

But Growing Gratitude isn't just for children. The app could be used professionally, for instance, thanking someone for a job interview.  It could be used by nonprofits, newlyweds, graduates.  The possibilities are truly endless.

Advice for Mompreneurs 
It's hard enough being an entrepreneur.  But it's even more challenging to be a mompreneur. So how does Amy do it?  How can someone juggle 2 kids, a husband, at-home responsibilities and a growing startup without getting stressed out?  According to Amy, the key is dividing up her time.

"I thought multitasking would be key," says Amy.  "But in reality, this is all crazymaking!  Now that I've been doing this full-time for 6 months, I have learned to divide my time wisely.  I work during naptime and I work late at night after the kids have gone to sleep."

Why Mompreneurship?
Why did Amy decide to become an entrepreneur?  As a previous public school teacher and vice principal, leaving a secure job was risky.  But Amy knew it had to be done.

"I saw my idea realized," says Amy.  "And I know I can do it better than anyone else.  As soon as the idea was under my skin, I had no choice but to move forward with it.  I know I'll do it the right way.  I love this project."

Mompreneurs in Kansas City
There's no doubt about it--Kansas City provides the perfect fusion for a mompreneur like Amy.  Not only is Kansas City a great place to raise a family, but its entrepreneurial and startup scene is growing faster than any other region of the country.

"I just started networking and the people are so great," says Amy.  "I am so grateful for Kansas City's low cost of living and the opportunity to try something new with a smaller risk. The local press in Kansas City wants to see entrepreneurs succeed--there's a lot of local pride here.  Not to mention, a lot of great startup resources."

Interested in contributing to Growing Gratitude's Indiegogo platform?  Visit Growing Gratitude's page and give as little as $5 or as much as $5,000--every little bit helps.   

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Kansas City Startup AudioAnywhere Launches Indiegogo Crowdfunding Initiative with $10,000 Goal

After successful beta testing in early 2012, AudioAnywhere, a Kansas City-based startup that simplifies the streaming music experience, has launched a crowdfunding campaign through one of the world’s largest global funding platforms, Indiegogo.

AudioAnywhere, a client of Kansas City-based technology startup accelerator Think Big Partners, is working to prove that listeners can enjoy a free music streaming experience while artists get adequately compensated through advertising-based royalties. Despite the popularity of sites like Pandora and Spotify, monetization of streaming music has been underwhelming. Streaming services are losing money and record labels are dissatisfied with meager royalty payments.

Kyle Johnson, Scott Johnson and Ryan Luckie have developed this innovative music platform and the revenue engine behind the scenes known as Bixy. By combining the two products, the team expects to revive the online music industry. AudioAnywhere plans to pay artists five times more than what they earn today through revenues generated by Bixy’s more effective audio and banner ads. Bixy will prove that streaming music can be a win-win-win for listeners, artists and advertisers.

 

“AudioAnywhere has a real opportunity to solve a big problem for the entire music industry, and ultimately the listening consumer,” said Herb Sih, co-founder of Think Big Partners. “By combining an easy-to-use, streaming music platform in a social environment with the ability to give consumers highly relevant advertising offers that make sense, AudioAnywhere may crack the code on making online music viable for everyone. Without figuring out how to pay artists and labels in a way that doesn’t hurt the consumer, eventually free online music may die and then everyone loses.” 

Increasingly, crowdfunding is becoming a mainstream method for financing and marketing a variety of new ventures. Confident in the crowdfunding trend, AudioAnywhere is excited to engage the Indiegogo community and hopes to raise $10,000 by October 6, 2012. With these funds, AudioAnywhere plans to first offer a radio feature that uses social data to decide what type of music a listener likes.  With the remainder of the $10,000 raise, AudioAnywhere will implement the system that automatically pays artists when people listen to their music.

“We felt that Indiegogo would be an excellent launch vehicle for AudioAnywhere,” said Kyle Johnson, CEO of AudioAnywhere. “We’re able to tell our story to an audience interested in music and technology and we’ll raise some money too.”

To express its gratitude to early supporters, AudioAnywhere is granting donors access to its streaming music platform before the general public. To view AudioAnywhere’s Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign and to donate to the startup’s $10,000 goal, please visit www.indiegogo.com/audioanywhere.  To learn more about AudioAnywhere, please visit www.audioanywhere.com.

Follow AudioAnywhere! @AudioAnywhere
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Tiki Toss 3D Mobile App and bizperc Graduate Announces New Crowdfunding Initiative

After experiencing exponential growth within the past year, Mellow Militia, a Santa Barbara-based (formerly Kansas City-based) app development company, has announced its decision to launch a crowdfunding campaign through the major global funding platform Indiegogo to meet increased demand for the new physical version of its popular mobile app game, Tiki Toss 3D.

Already a favorite among casual gamers, the Tiki Toss 3D app allows iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users to play and compete against other players in a digital version of thetraditional, island-themed ring toss game. Following the success of Tiki Toss 3D, Mellow Militia decided to create a hard board version of the game, which has since been picked up and sold by nearly 200 retailers in less than a year.

“Our initial thought was that the physical game would make a nice complement to the Tiki Toss 3Dmobile app,” said Mellow Militia co-founder Chris Puglisi.  “But little did we know that Tiki Toss would take on a life of its own after we debuted the physical product,” he added.

Previously, Mellow Militia had been piecing together orders in small batches, but with constant re-orders, new accounts and direct retail sales, the company experienced a need for added support to keep up with its explosive growth. Mellow Militia says the main goal for its Idiegogo campaign is to raise the needed capital for funding the first large-scale production run of Tiki Toss.

“A year ago, this was a night and weekend project for Chris, myself and my wife Amy,” said Mellow Militia co-founder Kyle McGetrick. “But today it’s a full-time job, and we need to keep the shelves of our existing accounts stocked and the inventory to supply the new accounts that are approaching us every day,” he continued.

Increasingly, crowdfunding is becoming a mainstream method for financing a variety of ventures. Confident in the crowdfunding trend, Mellow Militia is excited to engage the Indiegogo community as it takes its next steps financially and socially.

To express its gratitude for campaign supporters, Mellow Militia is offering a limited edition, 2012 Indiegogo version of its Tiki Toss game, as well as some great, customized packages.

“We could not have come this far without the amazing support of our community,” said McGetrick.“ Friends and family have pitched in to help build, package and ship more than 10,000Tiki Toss games across the country. We’re ready to take it to the next level,” he added.

To view Mellow Militia’s Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, please visit www.indiegogo.com/tikitoss.  Then, you can help out by doing the following:

1. Visit www.indiegogo.com/tikitoss.
2. Hit the Facebook "Like" button under the video and the Google+ button as well.  If you have a Twitter account, you can tweet about it, too!
3. Leave a comment using the "comments" tab at the top of the video.
4. Buy something! Even if it's $3.00--the amount doesn't matter right now.  Indiegogo is basing everything off of interactions.  Don't feel pressure to buy--but if you see something you like, purchase away!
5. Pass this along to your friends, colleagues, etc.  Tap into your network to help Mellow Militia get this thing rollin'!

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