Featured Event: A True St. Louis Success Story DDI Media Offers ITEN Companies Free Billboard Advertising Featured Company: PlazSoft Welcome New Companies Joining ITEN Featured Job Openings Yurbuds Sale is Great for St. Louis Kauffman Foundation Announces Grant to ITEN Featured New Mentors

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ITEN: Catalyst for Tech Startups
Entrepreneurs Help Entrepreneurs
June 2014
In This Issue
Sign Up For Startup Digest
Featured Event: A True St. Louis Success Story
DDI Media Offers ITEN Companies Free Billboard Advertising
Featured Company: PlazSoft
Welcome New Companies Joining ITEN
Featured Job Openings
Yurbuds Sale is Great for St. Louis
Kauffman Foundation Announces Grant to ITEN
Featured New Mentors
StartupDigest
The personalized insider newsletter for all things startup
in our area.
Subscribe to the free weekly St. Louis edition of Startup
Digest. With the ever­growing array of startup activities
in St. Louis, it's hard to know which to attend. Startup
Digest can help. We curate the events and point you to
the best ones for the week ahead.
ITEN 2nd Thursday July 10th,
2014
A True St. Louis Success Story
ITEN, the catalyst of the IT ecosystem in St. Louis, is
sponsoring a monthly educational and networking event
for all local technology startup companies. "ITEN 2nd
Thursday" is an event series designed to connect
fledgling entrepreneurs and anyone interested in startup
technology businesses with successful emerging
companies and veteran business leaders.
Yurbuds Sale is Great for St. Louis
by Jim Brasunas ITEN Executive Director
All of the details of Harman's purchase of Yurbuds aren't released yet,
but we can assume that the deal is an excellent one for Yurbuds, their
investors, founders, and employees. The deal is also a great one for
our region, and here's why:
1. Yurbuds is one of the earlier ventures considered part of the
current generation of compelling startups emerging from the new
ecosystem. Their successful exit sends a message that great things
will happen for St. Louis startups that find traction and build great

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Next month's event will be held on July 10th, from 4pm
­ 6pm at the Tavern of Fine Arts (313 Belt Ave St. Louis
63112). 2nd Thursdays are part of a larger offering of
programs that ITEN offers to encourage, educate,
mentor and develop technology entrepreneurs and
startup companies in the Greater St. Louis region.
Our guest speaker on July 10th is Seth Burgett, co­
founder and CEO of Yurbuds. Yurbuds was the first
ever graduate of ITEN's Mock Angel program (in the fall
of 2008), and has been the #1 ranked startup in St.
Louis the last two years. The company's growth has
been nothing short of spectacular; Yurbuds' products are
sold all over the world and the company continues to
expand its product line. Seth will share the backstory
of how Yurbuds got started, how it's achieved such
phenomenal success, and what's in store for the
company in the future. Don't miss it!
ITEN's last 2nd Thursday's topic was Cyber Security. A
panel of three, moderated by David Strom, discussed
current major cyber security issues threatening today's
world. If you missed the last 2nd Thursday, you can
watch our archived video here.
ITEN 2nd Thursday June 12 2014
products along with a great company.
2. Yurbuds has significant local financial backing. Seeing a great
positive return, those investors will have more confidence in the
potential of St. Louis startup deals, and they'll be looking for other
opportunities here in town.
3. The founding team of Seth Burgett and Rich Daniels now has quite
a success under their belts, and eventually will find their way into other
startups: as founders, C­Level management, investors, advisors, or
directors: new strength into the ecosystem.
4. Other members of Yurbuds' team will have an appetite for more
startup adventures. Some of them may be looking at a financial
windfall from the sale. We frequently see the founding of new
startups coming as the result of great exits.
5. The ecosystem itself can also take a bow. Yurbuds was ITEN's
very first Mock Angel graduate, back in the fall of 2008. What better
validation for that program than to see them have such great success!
VMS, CET, Washington University's Skandalaris Center, Cultivation
Capital, and others have made important contributions to Yurbuds as
they've grown and matured.
We've been hoping for an investor exit from a truly St. Louis­grown
startup from the current generation, and now we have one. The
importance for the ecosystem, the boost for the morale of
entrepreneurs and investors, and the ability of St. Louis to now point to
a clear success story can't be underestimated. Now that the first
pickle is out of the jar, who's next? We have a lot of great
candidates for attractive exits. Yurbuds has been #1 on our list of
Top Ten tech startups for the last two years (a place now up for
grabs), and that list is probably a good place to look for the candidates
who might be next.
Seth Burgett will be our guest speaker at the July 10th 2nd
Thursday event. This was fortuitously planned months ago as part of
our Founders Series. Seth's appearance now takes on added interest,
as I'm sure a lot of people will want to know more about the deal and
more about how Seth and Rich made it all happen.
Yurbuds: What a great story, and what a great watershed event for
our town.
Kauffman Foundation Announces Grant to
ITEN to Expand Research Capabilities

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Startups Deals
DDI Media Offers ITEN Companies
Free Billboard Advertising Seen by
Thousands of St. Louisans!
DDI Media has partnered with ITEN to provide start­up
companies free advertising on billboards throughout the
St. Louis market. DDI Media understands that cash­
challenged start­up companies have a great need to
advertise their companies and create brand awareness,
but often cannot afford this expense during the early
stage of the start­up process.
"Our hope is that by providing start­up companies with
the opportunity to promote their business and get new
customers they will be successful and that is good for
them, us and St. Louis overall" said Matt Gamache, DDI
Media, Metro Sales Manager. "It is the essence of a
win­win situation"
Time To Cater is one of the companies that is
benefiting from this program. "At this stage in our
business we could not afford the production and rental
costs for multiple billboards throughout St. Louis. But
because of DDI's generous offer, we are advertising in 4
locations throughout the metro area and building
awareness with customers each day", stated Ed Spinaio,
Time to Cater's CEO.
ITEN works with community partners and resources to
provide support services to entrepreneurs in the
technology industry. "We are grateful that DDI Media
approached us and generously offered this program free
of charge. Through great community partnerships like
Kauffman Sees Entrepreneur Support Innovations
as Model for Other Regions
(KANSAS CITY, Mo. and ST. LOUIS) June 25, 2014 ­ The Ewing
Marion Kauffman Foundation today announced a grant to ITEN, a
501(c)3 organization that provides a precedent­setting structure for
entrepreneurs to contribute to the growth and success of the St. Louis
startup ecosystem. The purpose of the award, totaling $200,000 over
a two period, is to further the dynamic success of current ITEN
programs, expand ITEN's metric based system for evaluating the
entrepreneurial community and recognizing early signs of future
success (or failure), and create an actionable "how to" guide for
startup ecosystems across the U.S.
"Currently, research on programs for entrepreneurs and regional
entrepreneurial ecosystems is lacking," said Dane Stangler, vice
president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation. "ITEN is
a standout organization that provides a means for studying groups of
entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial phenomena within a group
setting. Our grant will help to further that research."
ITEN provides a benchmark model for fostering startup success by
incorporating the strengths of incubators and accelerators ­ education,
development and critical connections ­ but without the financial or
equity commitment those organizations often require from young
companies. This grant affirms the Kauffman Foundation's belief that
startup communities across the US will benefit from replicating the
unique and innovative model that ITEN has developed.
"As entrepreneurship continues to become a more mainstream
element of economic development strategies in regions like St. Louis
and beyond, ITEN's organic development and broad community reach
experiences are timely and potentially replicable," said Francis Chmelir,
director of Operations for ITEN. "ITEN is creating a 'playbook' of those
experiences and strategies that other regions can study and iterate to
implement their own community­supported programs."
ITEN's core offerings to accelerate tech startups include:
Business Model Validation Entrepreneurs at the concept
stage are paired with experienced mentors to help identify the
problem, solution and customer that the business will target, and
to create a viable revenue model.
Mock Angel Program provides "tough love" from
mentor/investors who critique the entrepreneur's investor pitch
and provide constructive criticism, explaining why they would or
would not invest in the business. Graduates are introduced to
investors, with nearly 80 percent receiving outside funding.
EIR provides an Entrepreneur in Residence to selected
ventures. EIRs work closely with their selected venture to
provide a hands­on, strategic approach for rapid acceleration.
Talent Network Enabling tech startups to find the talent they
need, ITEN maintains an extensive network of talent­producing
and talent­finding organizations interested in the opportunities
emerging from ITEN's ventures.
Community Involvement Through support of the Kauffman

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David Woltz ITEN Mentor
this, we are growing awareness of St. Louis' tech
community" stated Francis Chmelir, Director of
Operations.
St. Louis­based DDI Media is a one­stop resource for
billboard advertising throughout the Midwest. DDI's
exceptional locations provide repeated exposure of a
business message to a wide customer audience. With
more than 1,100 available billboard faces, DDI's
locations in Missouri and Illinois ­ along with the DDC
Signs billboards managed in Indiana, Alabama, Iowa,
Mississippi, Kansas, Tennessee, and downtown Chicago
­ give advertisers excellent market coverage.
Featured Company
PlazSoft is an innovative company creating business
applications, games, and other unique technology. Jeff
Minnis, 2012 Young Entrepreneur of the Year and
Founder and CEO of the company, stands in
an exclusive position to influence the future of
technology with his impressive technological background
in both hardware and software.
PlazSoft is currently raising $1 million to support the
growth of new products. In addition to developing a
Point of Sale program to compete with Quickbooks, the
company has also already begun selling its educational
and entertainment software, StudyX and Yargis. Please
contact Jeff at jeff@plazsoft.com for investment
opportunities and more information.
PlazSoft was ranked no. 3 in the Game Design segment
of ITEN 2013 St. Louis Tech Startup Report .
Welcome New Companies Joining
ITEN
DataValue : Datavalue deal with Communication
Security software.They recently started development of
Virtual Voice products.
Xooker : Xooker empowers mobile marketing for local
merchants through their patent pending mobile­first
marketing platform.
Christopher Enterprises: IT Mobile Communication
company.
Lab's 1 Million Cups presentation series, educational
programming such as ITEN 2nd Thursday, and targeted
networking and development opportunities through SIGs (Special
Interest Groups), ITEN links entrepreneurs with like­minded
entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, civic organizations, and
talent.
Additional major sponsors of ITEN include Civic Progress, Missouri
Technology Corporation (MTC), St. Louis Economic Development
Partnership, Gateway to Innovation Conference, Century Link, St. Louis
Arch Angels, AHM Insurance Group, Greensfelder, iSelect Fund,
Polsinelli and Stone Carlie.
About the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan
foundation that aims to foster economic independence by advancing
educational achievement and entrepreneurial success. Founded by late
entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the
Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo., and has approximately $2
billion in assets. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org, and
follow the Foundation on www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and
www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.
About ITEN
ITEN provides a foundational system for entrepreneurs to work
together towards building strong startups and a vibrant tech
ecosystem. Access to investors, key service providers and qualified
talent means lower barriers to rapid growth. Designed by
entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, requiring neither payment nor equity,
ITEN is a unique community asset and a proven route to venture
success. Follow ITEN on Twitter at www.twitter.com/itenstl and
Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ITENSTL.
Welcome New Mentors Joining ITEN
David Wotlz
David has over 20 years of experience
managing brands at well­known
consumer packaged goods companies.
Many start­ups concentrate the
majority of their energy towards
creating their product. He'd like to
offer his expertise in marketing, brand
strategy, communications, and product
development to start­ups in St. Louis.
David can coach and help with
marketing principles and tools: target
consumer identification, brand tools
(promise, positioning, and
architecture), brand expressions
(communications, design language),
product development and validation,
pricing, research, risk management,
business plan development, commercialization strategy and planning.
He will attend ITEN (or other) events where startup entrepreneurs will
be in attendance. You can also find David through ITEN's Mentor
Match online match tool.

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Philip Stephenson : ITEN
Mentor
Bryan Garcia: ITEN
Mentor
Joe Pimmel: ITEN
Mentor
Invisible Girlfriend: Invisible Girlfriend is an online
service that helps remove the stigma of being single for
the millions of relationship­less adults in the world.
Space Sculpt : Online platform that connects talented
designers and architects with property owners seeking a
affordable design solution.
MagazineMe : Social Networking website in Magazine
format.
VinLogx: VinLogx is an innovative hardware solutions
provider that administers secure, remote asset
authentication via custom embedded machine­to­
machine (m2m) devices and integrated data sharing
services with cloud capabilities.
The Rekord: Social Media Platform for Music.
Featured Job Openings
ITEN is seeking an Operations Manager.Duties
include new company intake, effective administration
and tracking of the Concept Development Program,
assisting the Director of Operations with the
administration and tracking of the ITEN Business Model
Validation program, and representing ITEN at
community events including the 1 Million Cups program.
Enstitute is seeking a Program Manager. The
Program Manager will be responsible for meeting
organizational goals for operational efficiency and
program success in the STL. S/he is tasked with
supporting internal processes, coordination and
execution of each program including the recruitment of
participants, partner management, student and parent
management, delivery of programming, communications
and reporting.
Please check all other job openings at ITEN Jobs
Philip Stephenson
Philip has been involved with large
software companies for some
twenty years in the capacity of
technical pre­sales support,
salesman, business development
and product management. He
spent most of his time in the Bay
Area with Oracle working in
embedded mobile databases and
more recently with engineered
systems.
Philip has a deep knowledge of one
or more particular market verticals
and how to exploit them for
startups (i.e. social media, big box
retail, computational genomics, etc.) His expertise is getting a product
out the door from inception to production.
Bryan Garcia
Bryan was the Technology Leader for
TALX Corporation as they grew the
company from < $ 1 million annual
revenue to over $300 Million annual
revenue when we sold TALX to Equifax in
2007. He retired from Equifax as the CTO
in September of 2013. Bryan is currently a
lead mentor for Six Thirty and also
providing technology mentoring for a
Capital Innovators startup by the name of
Better Weekdays.
Bryan enjoys the energy and passion of
the startup / small company culture. He
understands the importance of time to market, and making sure what
is being built really is what the customers need.
Joe Pimmel
As a CFO for BusyEvent, a St. Louis tech
startup and a Lead Fellow for the Billiken
Angels Network, Joe has been fortunate
enough to work with a number of early­
stage businesses and to understand many
of the basic requirements/infrastructure
needed to get operations in place. He truly
enjoys the process of vetting new ideas
and building new businesses; in addition,
Joe is excited about the growth and
excitement that is occurring in our town
with many early­stage companies and
service providers.

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SPONSORS
Get involved
Sustaining Sponsors
Get involved
Questions? Email Jing Stiffler at jstiffler@itenstl.org or visit www.itenstl.org

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