php meetup

Bootup #2 - NY Entrepreneur Community

Environmentally Friendly Green Architecture, Social Sharing Startup, Open Source Workflow and Business Process Management

September 14th, 2009

The Bootup NY Tech Entrepreneur Community puts startups in front of engineers and business professionals to create a forum for analysis, the technical pitch, and team building.

Why Not Green Inc.


Whynotgreen.com is a web resource for building industry professionals (architects, engineers, contractors etc.) to find and evaluate building materials based on their attributes that contribute to sustainability.

Background


Ben Koenig, LEED AP, CDT
Ben has 7 years of experience in the architectural field and 5 years as green building consultant. He is currently employed at Gensler, an international Design and Architecture firm, where he is the point person for sustainable design and practices for his studio. Ben was born and raised in Munich, Germany and came to the US for his undergraduate and graduate education. In 1999 he received his bachelors in arts from Hunter College in New York, and in 2002 he graduated with a Masters in Architecture from Parsons School of Design. He has long been interested in green buildings, earning his LEED AP certification in 2004, and frequently searching for better ways to construct more sustainably. Also, Ben is deeply involved in the construction administration process gaining him a deep understanding of the industry and recently earned his Construction Document Technologist (CDT) certification in 2008.

Ryan Clarke, Assoc. AIA, CDT
Ryan has 6 years of post graduate experience in architecture and 4 years prior to that. He has worked with several international design firms and government agencies including Gensler, NBBJ, the Dormitory Authority of New York State and HLW International where he built a relational database of building products for use by in-house designers. Ryan has held several leadership positions in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) at national, state and local chapters, and continues to serve the organization. In 2007 he was awarded the Associate of the Year by the AIA New York State Chapter. Ryan is a graduate of the City College of New York School of Architecture and holds a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) degree. He is also an active member of the American Institute of Architects where he has held several leadership positions, on the National and State boards, since 2004. Ryan earned his certificate in Construction Document Technology in 2008.

Startup Maturity


We have been developing and refining our business plan and strategy over the past 9 months and are poised to begin seeking venture capital. In that time we have designed the core pages of the site and built a prototype of those pages with basic functionality but no database (not a proof of concept or demo). The location of that site is here: www.whynotgreen.com/prototype/test/index.html . We have also engaged with potential clients and users to gauge our appeal against current sources in the market. We would like to bring on a technical partner, preferably with a strong database architecture background and knowledge of how to leverage good architecture and technology to deliver the dynamic functionality we desire.


neigh*borrow


neigh*borrow is a web-based platform that makes it easy and worthwhile for people to borrow things they need to use but don't need to own. The site provides friends and neighbors access to a collective online catalog of the items they each own individually. Our lend and return model saves members money and the environment by allowing them to borrow, for free, items that would otherwise be purchased new.

neigh*borrow's technology facilitates the tracking and exchange of these items and promotes equitable participation and security through the use of lending requirements, accountability metrics, and customizable privacy settings.

The "freemium" business model provides two main sources of revenue. Given the hyper-local nature of the service, the company offers local businesses direct access to individuals living or working within a defined geography. This advertising revenue stream will help support the free "basic" membership. The premium membership will be offered through paid subscriptions and/or transaction fees and will provide paid members with access to a greater number of items, higher value items and priority access to high demand items.

Background


Adam Berk and David Tomback began conceptualizing neigh*borrow in late 2005. The website was created as a side project of both founders while Mr. Berk was an equities trader and Mr. Tomback was a MBA student at Kellogg. Mr. Tomback recently left his job as a management consultant with Booz & Co. (formerly Booz Allen Hamilton) to focus full-time on the venture. neigh*borrow won awards in the "Top Idea" and "Most Popular" categories in spigit.com's Entrepreneur Challenge in March, 2008. It was able to quickly grow its registered membership to over 5,000 users and has since restricted its service to begin an advanced private beta test. This test is expected to conclude at the end of this summer in preparation for a public beta launch in the late 2009.


ProcessMaker


ProcessMaker is the leading Open Source business process management (BPM) and workflow software designed for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and organizations.

ProcessMaker is a user-friendly application designed to manage business workflows efficiently and effectively. Business users and process experts with no programming experience can design and run workflows, increase transparency, and radically reduce paperwork. Users can automate approval based processes across systems and departments in a single company or across multiple companies. The ProcessMaker toolbox allows you to create forms, design documents, manage roles and users, designate routing rules, link to third-party systems, and map fully-functional workflows. The software is entirely web-based, making it simple to coordinate workflow across offices. ProcessMaker connects with your existing IT infrastructure, including DMS, ERP, CRM, and BI systems and databases.

ProcessMaker has commercial implementations on 5 continents, has been translated into 10 languages, and has been downloaded nearly 100,000 times. ProcessMaker was recently a Finalist in the SourceForge Community Choice award for Best Commercial Open Source Project.

Startup Maturity


Background Colosa Inc. is the company behind the ProcessMaker software project. The company is profitable and has offices in NY, Bolivia, and Peru. The company is currently looking to add additional members to its team in the areas of Support/Training and Inbound Marketing.

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