Mike88

Mike Nicholls Australian Inventor + Entrepreneur working with a small team of engineers building prototypes from Inventions including two medical devices. Publishes Startup88.com and has assessed/reviewed +500 inventions and +200 startups in the last 3 years. Mentors Sydney Startups via Incubate and other incubators and helps members of the Australian Startup Community via the Startup88.com website with free publicity and advertising. Experience in numerous industries including Digital Publishing, Cloud Computing, Apps, Hardware, Aviation, Real Estate & Finance and Health/Medical Devices.

Pagely – We help startups scale WordPress.

Pretty interesting, these guys provide a documented way to scale hosted WordPress using Amazon AWS and unlike most of the other players in this market provide the configurations and their methods they are selling.

A few years ago this site melted down when the guys from 4 short links at O’Reilly sent me thousands of visitors in a matter of minutes to a page that was a collection of over 100 IOT Startups all with images of the devices, my traditional WordPress hosting just melted, likewise I hear similar reports from startups that have suddenly had their Techcrunch moment and their traditional hosting couldn’t cope.

Its almost impossible to solve this problem on a traditional WordPress hosting platform in real time, you end up losing the traffic and if they notice your hosting company often will throttle the site. This is a good way to solve this problem.

 

Startup Name: Pagely

Tagline: We help startups scale WordPress.

Pagely created the Managed WordPress hosting space in 2009, and has been providing secure and reliable WP hosting services to companies like Facebook and NGINX with a focus on:

Performance: Opcode caching, full page caching, optimized PHP and Database setups are essentially platform defaults now instead of the customer trying to figure it out on their own with a mix of plugins and research. More sensible resource balancing on shared setups (old shared hosting providers were notorious for overselling). Collectively these things have made WordPress dramatically faster (vs. a default install) in most use cases.

Pagely Tech Stack

Security: Some level of malware/file scanning, hardened OS installs, least-privileged access, web application firewalls and DDoS mitigation may be defaults at most Managed WordPress providers now. You don’t hear about widespread security issues as we did in say the 2008-2011 period. Those that come up are mitigated quickly by the Core team (or the respective plugin author) and aided by rapidly deployed patches or firewall rules by the Managed hosts.

Tooling: Automating installs, code updates, and backups along with staging and deployment workflows enabled development teams to work faster and create more complex yet stable sites on WordPress.

Support: More knowledgeable support technicians that understand WordPress to a higher degree than a generic web host. Some providers are better than others but all seem to at least make an attempt to specialize in the unique support requirements of WordPress. Here at Pagely we take great pride in our quality over quantity approach to support ensuring that every agent is not only deeply skilled in WordPress but proficient in the core technical skills of DevOps and deployment management allowing them to address any performance or security issue that may arise.

What’s next for Pagely?
It’s odd to look at the landscape, this $1 Billion-channel we created (and of course others helped to grow) and reflect on where we fit in the picture going forward. For us, it’s fairly simple – do more of the things that have made us successful thus far: Investing in our people and focusing on the customer. It’s a recipe that wins over the long term.

Target Segment: Businesses

How will you make money? Monthly plans based on project size

Capital Raised? None

Founder: Joshua Strebel

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pagely

Website: https://pagely.com

 

Nodio – Blockchain-powered wi-fi router platform for de-centralized applications

Ed: Really interesting product which could be described as the love child of a Router/Firewall and an Personal Security Application Server with failover and security features that can cost tens of thousands from Cisco.

They say the street always finds a use for your product often in ways you didn’t envisage. While Nodio seems to very focused on the blockchain app aspect of the device, as a former owner of a networking and ISP company the router seems like an ideal solution for small offices or individuals who require high levels of internet security and uptime, it has a failover/backup 4G/LTE connection as well as mesh networking between devices and an onramp to the TOR network, a battery backup that can be upgraded and support for multiple VPN methods.

So there is a pretty good chance it will stay connected even in case of a blackout and if you are the sort of person who has a high need for internet security (Journalists, Public Figures, Activists) this is a way that you might be able to stay hidden when you are travelling.

Even more interesting is their crowdfunding model, which could best be described as a combination of Blockchain based virtual shares and a SAFE convertible note. They are offering a share in the value of the company that is producing the Blockchain router. According to the website a virtual contract blockchain value they created called “Nods” which equates to 10% of the value of the company will be split between the funders and can be converted to shares after the closing, the conversion rate is dependant on the number of subscribers. This method allows the market to value the company with a floor on the share price and the company gets any upside. The FAQ states that the product has been prototyped and has a production plan with a target price of $200.

Earlier this year I mentored a startup that wanted to act as a blockchain based smart contract broker which replaces the traditional role of corporations and regulators based in a single country. The entrepreneur was an early member of a newish blockchain based currency and had deep domain knowledge in the area but we think he was too many years ahead of his time. It’s a super interesting topic which you have to keep an open mind about because a lot of these blockchain ideas sound crazy when you first hear them and you think that can’t happen due to regulation but then some of it does despite regulation.

The funny thing about these crypto currency people who will most likely be their customers is they seem to be very risk tolerant and willing to make a bet on ideas years before the rest of the world thinks its a good idea.

Nodio

nodio_07We are proud to announce Nodio — a blockchain-powered wi-fi router that serves as a platform for decentralized applications. Its purpose is to transform obscure technologies into simple solutions for everyday use. Nodio is much more than a regular router. It’s using blockchain for running Decentralized Applications and guarantees the highest level of privacy for every solution based on a device.

Just imagine a real peer-to-peer Internet with messengers, social media, and browsers immune to external threats and hacks, free from censorship and fear of being exposed.

Target Audience: People concerned about Internet privacy and blockchain enthusiasts

How will you make money? By selling our hardware solution
Funding: None (Crowdfunding campaign starts Nov 1st)
Twitter: @nodioproject
Website: nodio.net

Photolemur – Photo Enhancement on Autopilot

Ed: I get a lot of pitches and very few products impress me but this app is so cool

Startup Name: Photolemur

Tagline: Photo Enhancement on Autopilot

Elevator Pitch: Photolemur is the world’s first fully automatic photo enhancement solution, specially tailored for regular people with little-to-no knowledge of photo editing. It helps to make any photo much better through a user-friendly interface, with the help of unique technology. It is the next generation artificial intelligence that automatically performs complex image improvements, which traditionally require manual control, human involvement & time.

Photolemur analyzes millions of pixels per second, identifies faces, objects, colors, and performs the necessary enhancements.

photolemur2

photolemur3

Target Market: Photo amateurs, Travel bloggers

How do you make money? The app is paid. We will have 3 subscription plans

Funding: None
Founder Name: Dmitry Sytnik
Twitter: @photolemur
Website: https://photolemur.com

NinjaMock – Free mockup and wireframe design tool for mobile app’s and web pages

Ed: I love this product, I first used it about 2 years ago and it was pretty good then and even better now.

Startup Name: NinjaMock

Elevator Pitch:

Ninjamock is a free mockup and wireframe design tool for mobile app’s and web pages. We help creative people bring their ideas to market – fast.

We want to change the way you design your mobile app’s and web pages.

Create, share and test your mockups and ideas with NinjaMock.

Users just love us. Already hundreds of thousands of projects have been created and shared in NinjaMock.

How will you make money? With the free version you have all our features. Your 3 projects are public and NinjaMock branded. The paid version has all features, projects are private and no Ninja branding.
Funding: None
Founder: James van Hauen
Twitter: @ninjamock
Website: http://ninjamock.com
Target Market: App and web developers and designers

Decisionaire – Create online quizzes & assessments

Startup Name: Decisionaire

Create online quizzes, assessments and more – no tech skill needed!

Decisionaire Dashboard

Decisionaire Dashboard

Elevator Pitch: Jeff Mason has been establishing – and then running – the marketing function for software start-ups for close to 20 years.

Prior to founding Decisionaire, Jeff served as Vice President of Marketing for Social Solutions – helping to establish the company as the recognized leader, and authority, on nonprofit performance management. In 2014, Social Solutions was acquired by Vista Equity Partners.

Before Social Solutions, Jeff co-founded Artifact Software and was a member of Sequoia Software’s original executive team. Jeff established and led Sequoia’s marketing team – building Sequoia’s brand and developing the company into a market leading, publicly traded organization. In 2001, Sequoia was acquired by Citrix Systems.

Jeff also founded the Alliance for Effective Social Investing, sits on the advisory board of PerformWell, and is a board member of the Superstar Foundation.

How will you make money? Flat Monthly Fee
Founder Name: Jeff Mason
Twitter: @Decisionaire
Website: http://www.decisionaire.com
Location: Baltimore, MD, United States

Standard Fusion – Risk & Compliance Management Platform

Startup Name: Standard Fusion

We are making risk and compliance management simple and approachable.

Elevator Pitch: Risk and compliance management has typically been an enterprise only industry, costing 6 figures to manage using costly enterprise solutions. We have built a SaaS application for managing an organizations programs to standards such as ISO 27001, NIST, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FEDRAMP, etc.

We aimed to solve 3 problems by building Standard Fusion. Eliminate high costs of implementation and operation , reduce unnecessary complexity where possible, and add value to organizations.

How will you make money? SaaS, per user, per month.

Target Market: Any organization that must maintain compliance, whether legal, regulatory, security, or even client driven.

Standard Fusion Dashboard

Standard Fusion Dashboard

How much capital have you raised? None

Founder: Mirek Pijanowski

Twitter Handle: @standardfusion

Website: https://www.standardfusion.com

Location: Vancouver, Canada

Pummel.fit – Find a fitness health & wellness coach in your area

Startup Name

Pummel

pummel

pummel

Tag Line
Find a fitness health and wellness coach in your area

Website
http://pummel.fit

Founder Name
Damien King

Twitter handle

@pummelapp

Elevator Pitch

A platform and community of the best fitness, health and wellness coaches. As a user you can be matched with the top 5 coaches in your area. Often described as the Tinder of personal trainers, the app allows you to browse and select which fitness expert you would like to connect with based on the Pummel Matching algorithm. Once a connection is made the expert can arrange your first meetup.

Target Market

20 – 35 yo, skewed to female or urban professional

How will you make money?

Health experts pay a yearly subscription for unlimited lead generation, mobile profile and message tool

Are you the founder?
Yes

How Much Capital Have You Raised?
None

City/Country

Gold Coast, Australia

DataQuarks – Decision Modelling Cloud

Startup Name: DataQuarks

Elevator Pitch: DataQuarks provides an analytics sandbox for information workers to build models using natural business language.

“Slack + Excel + Tableau” in a single platform. Collaborative decision modelling for analysts using entirely business language (no coding). Startupbootcamp alumni (IoT & Data – Barcelona cohort of 2016)

Note: DataQuarks also has developed a specific Brexit Data Modelling Package which helps companies evaluate the effects of Britain exiting the EU.

Website: DataQuarks.com

Twitter Handle: @DataQuarks

Founder Name: Chandy Krisnamoorthy

Location : London, United Kingdom

Capital Raised: $10k-50k USD

How will you make money? SaaS Subscriptions

Target Market: B2B

DataQuarks Data Modelling UI

DataQuarks Data Modelling UI