Publisher, bizblip
In which sector is your company most closely aligned?
Big Data
What does your company do?
Seed and pre-seed startups create more jobs, wealth and equity than any other sector of the economy but there is little consistent information about them. Advertising supported media can’t focus on this sector and news is an industry that does not scale, eschewing new technologies. bizblip has no ads, rather, relies on paid subscribers. Leaning into a variety of technologies cuts production costs, news tracking and aquisition of new companies to cover.
How long has your company had a presence in St. Louis?
10/2019 to 3/2020, ideation;
3/2020 to 4/2021 testing;
4/2021 to present, full operations (we incorporated in 4/2021, and claim that as the start… but it’s fuzzy)
What makes the St. Louis region an ideal home for your company/organization? Why do you choose to operate your business here?
I am here.
What has been the most valuable resource (person, tool, organization) for helping your company grow? How did you find it? How do you utilize it?
ITEN mentoring has been fundamental to every stage; ideation, testing, finding product/market fit, MVP for tech stack development. I still consult, regularly, with EIR’s there. I first heard about it, I think, at a Venture Cafe event in 2019.. but I’m not sure.
What advice would you give new tech companies that are trying to navigate the current market?
Drill into your problem more, and interview people who share that problem A LOT! Get mentors and an advisory board… ask them for homework, do it, and ask for more. THEN start thinking about a solution.
What new practice or policy did you put into place over the pandemic that has positively impacted your company?
Many, but doing video interviews over Zoom (instead of taking cameras to people) cut my production time by a whole lot. From start of interview, to publishing the edited piece takes me about an hour. I would not have tried this if not for the pandemic.
Tell us about the next big thing in your technology sector. How will this affect your business?
AI is already making the writing of news articles cheaper. Otter.ai transcribes interviews in about a minute. Chat-GPT can use that interview, along with an example of an earlier story, to create a credible rough draft of a story. Editing is the next frontier, and I have plans to develop a system of tracking editorial decisions built on GPT-3. As is, using the AI that I currently have available, I’ve cut production time down to about 20 percent… a 500% efficiency increase.
What is the accomplishment you are most proud to share from 2022?
My startup stayed alive, and grew.
What exciting development is on the horizon for your company in 2023?
bizblip is launching Blippy Pitch in January, a weekly online video pitch competition for early stage tech and tech enabled startup founders. My readers are the only ones who will see the videos, and they get to vote. Winning teams get a seat at one of my quarterly Pitches Get Stitches in-person pitch competitions. Founders tell me they are most excited at the prospect of getting feedback so they can improve their pitches before getting in front of customers or funders.
