008 Think Big Radio: Blake Miller's StartupBus Experience

Blake Miller, partner and web developer at Think Big Partners, had the opportunity to travel from Las Vegas to Austin, Texas on StartupBus—a 72 hour roadtrip-meets-hackathon.  Along the way, Blake collaborated with other “buspreneurs” to build and launch a website while heading down to South by Southwest in Austin. Blake sat down and told Think Big Radio all about his StartupBus experience...

008 Think Big Radio: Blake Miller's Startup Bus Experience
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Follow Blake! @BlakeMiller32

Blogging from the Bus: Day 2 of StartupBus

Blake Miller, partner and web developer at Think Big Partners, was chosen to participate in StartupBus, a 72-hour roadtrip-meets-hackathon from Vegas to Austin.  Along the way, "Buspreneurs" create and launch a startup and present it to venture capitalists at SXSW.  This is Blake's experience:`


Here we are about 40 hours into the StartupBus adventure and we are about to launch a company!  Forty hours!!!


I’ll say that one more time…40 hours!


We have conceived and developed our idea to its maximum potential and now we're on the verge of launching a company in under two days.


What company you ask?  http://GetWished.com.


GetWished is gift giving re-imagined.  Because honestly, the way we see it, traditional registries and wishlists suck!


Imagine this: An elegant platform to create a list that displays all of your wishes, desires and wants. The platform allows you to also surf the Internet adding anything you want to that list, share your wishlist with your Facebook friends, and with a few simple clicks, provide all of your friends and family with the ability to fulfill those wishes.


Wish Granted.


GetWished allows your friends and family to purchase gifts that you actually want.  Wishing for something big? No problem. With our group buying platform, chipping in has never been easier. That Justin Bieber VIP Experience you’ve been eyeing is now a few steps closer to reality...because of GetWished.


Sounds pretty cool, huh?  We think so. But the opportunity is SO MUCH BIGGER than it sounds.


I will leave you with a few rando­m thoughts from the bus…

1. A word to the wise: Internet connection in the desert sucks!
2. The dynamic of our team is pretty inspiring.  You have six total strangers who came together in literally a matter of minutes and work together like a symphony.  I’ve done Hackathons and Startup Weekends before and it’s nothing like this.  At those events, I, at the very least, knew of the people that I was joining teams with.  This (at least in my experience), results in an initial surge of excitement because your friends usually don’t hold you that accountable.  Our team has been a game the entire time.  Pretty cool if you ask me.
3. Quote of the Day.  “I feel like I’m in a horrible movie mashup of the movie Speed and Hackers, only with no Angelina or Sandra."
4. And please remember...

We launch TODAY!

Follow us on Twitter @getwished

Like us on Facebook.com/getwished


AND MOST IMPORTANT: Signup so I can get you in to start using GetWished first.
AND TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW: The more traction we can get, the better our grading point will be for the finals.


Also look for another email tomorrow asking for your help with the StartupBus Game.


Follow me! @BlakeMiller32

Blogging from the Bus: Day 1 of StartupBus

Blake Miller, partner and web developer at Think Big Partners, was chosen to participate in StartupBus, a 72-hour roadtrip-meets-hackathon from Vegas to Austin.  Along the way, "Buspreneurs" create and launch a startup and present it to venture capitalists at SXSW.  This is Blake's experience: 

It’s 4:15pm on the first day of StartupBus and we are somewhere in the desert between Vegas and Phoenix.  

I’m not even sure where to start.  

I landed in Vegas last night and hit the ground running right away.   The Vegas tech community hosted a launch party for us “Buspreneurs” to get to know each other right off the bat.  I must say, it feels very similar to the Kansas City tech scene that I am so accustomed to.  

We started this morning at userlib, a Vegas coworking facility with a very cool vibe.  There was no time wasted in getting going.  The first to pitch?  Me.  Although my idea wasn't chosen, it did fall in line with another Buspreneur's idea, so finding the right team was easy.  

My team is made up of myself, Fred Guest, Jesse Ditson, Crystal Chang, Diana Mounter, and Isaac Lewis.  We put our heads together and decided to create a universal registry system called GetWished.  Now that we have our idea in place, we're ready to roll.  Currently, I'm hacking away with my fellow Buspreneurs somewhere in the middle of the desert (never thought I'd say that!).  

To keep track of our progress, follow GetWished on Twitter (twitter.com/getwished) and like us on Facebook (facebook.com/getwished).  More importantly go to http://getwished.com and signup to be the first ones to GetWished! 

Stay tuned...I'll keep you posted throughout the week with more blogging from the bus!

Follow Blake! @blakemiller32

Follow StartupBus! @TheStartupBus

Kansas City Startups Make Appearances at 2012 SXSW: LiveOn, AgLocal and Think Big Partners

There's no doubt about it: Kansas City is on the startup map.  From the Kauffman Foundation to Google Fiber, from Think Big Partners to KCSourceLink, Kansas City entrepreneurship is beginning to make make a name for itself.

And now, Kansas City entrepreneurship is on its way to Austin, Texas for South by Southwest (SXSW) from March 9th-13th.

LiveOn: Finalist for Technical Achievement Award
South by Southwest chose LiveOn among four other Finalists to compete for the Technical Achievement Award, which recognizes projects that are "re-inventing and re-defining the technical parameters of our online experience". This recognition has arrived three months after LiveOn launched its public beta site and four months after LiveOn was named a Global Entrepreneurship Week 50 company of 2011.  The awards event will take place on March 13, 2012 in Austin, Texas and will coincide with the annual South by Southwest Interactive festival.


AgLocal: Competitor in Innovative Web Technologies

AgLocal, an Overland Park startup, was chosen from more than 670 companies as one of the 48 that will participate in the SXSW Accelerator program.  The startup will compete in the Interactive Web Technologies portion of the Accelerator on March 12th-13th in Austin.  AgLocal is a marketplace that connects independent farmers and producers with the demand of local businesses and consumers.  

Think Big Partners: StartupBus Participant

Yesterday, one of Think Big's partners, Blake Miller, was chosen to participate on StartupBus, where he will join a number of other entrepreneurial strangers to launch a startup in 72 hours all in the confinement of a bus traveling at 60 miles per hour.  Blake will join StartupBus conductor Jeff "SKI" Kinsey and other entrepreneurs in Las Vegas and will roadtrip to Austin for SXSW. Along the way, Miller will help the team launch a startup and will have the opportunity to visit Rackspace in San Antonio.  (Stay tuned!  Blake will be live blogging from the StartupBus about his experience!)

Best of luck to those participating in SXSW and for those headed down to the event.  Have fun, get inspired and don't forget to Think Big along the way.