How This Shark Tank Superstar Is Monetizing Bad Breath | Inc.com

June 11, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Landing an investment from all five hosts of ABC’s Shark Tank was just the beginning for Charles Michael Yim.

The 31-year-old entrepreneur, who closed the first million-dollar deal in Shark Tank history with his smartphone breathalyzer company Breathometer, is launching a second product, the breath-monitoring device Mint. Whereas Breathometer’s Breeze product focused on analyzing blood alcohol content (BAC) to prevent drunk driving, Mint measures oral health indicators, such as bacteria and hydration levels. It may even save consumers a trip to the dentist, according to Yim.

“A lot of people think halitosis is just bad breath, but it’s really a byproduct of poor oral health,” he says. “We measure what are called sulfuric compounds, which have a direct connection to the amount of bacteria in your mouth.”

The beta version of Mint, which works in conjunction with a mobile app, shipped this week to contributors to the company’s Indiegogo campaign that raised more than $94,000 in March. Yim says the final version will be available to consumers in September.

Doorman Raises $1.5 Million To Eliminate Missed Package Deliveries | TechCrunch

June 2, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Everyone has, at some time or another, experienced the frustration that comes from missing a delivery – that is, coming home only to find a delivery notice stuck to your door. A company called Doorman is trying to solve this problem by allowing customers to schedule their own deliveries as late as midnight, seven days a week. Now Doorman has $1.5 million in seed funding to continue to grow its business, and is also now launching its first API.

The API will allow partners to integrate Doorman’s scheduling functionality directly into their own websites and applications.

The funding was led by Doorman’s advisors, Motus Ventures, and included participation from WTI, MicroVentures, and VGO Ventures. Prior to this round, the company had raised $375,000 from smaller VCs and angel investors.

Doorman was founded by Zander Adell, a former Pixar Technical Director, who felt the frustrations of missed deliveries first-hand, he said. Though today there are a number of options for same-day deliveries from retailers like Amazon or via courier-based services like Postmates, deliveries from other online shopping destinations are still routed through package delivery companies like UPS and FedEx. With these companies, consumers have less control over the timing of a delivery’s arrival.

The Imbue Tea Infuser Brews Using Magnets | Small Biz Trends

May 22, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Many tea drinkers will tell you that for superior flavor, the best option is loose leaf tea.

Unfortunately, the drawback to using loose leaf is the mess involved with brewing it. This is especially true if you are away from home.

But a group of Western Washington University students have created a product they believe will make brewing loose leaf tea on the go easy and mess free.

The group has dubbed their creation Imbue, the magnetic tea infusing vessel. It’s a travel mug crafted from shatter-resistant borosilicate glass with a magnetic bamboo lid and stainless steel strainer. The magnetic Imbue tea infuser also comes with a removable natural fabric sleeve with a no-slip suede lining

The group claims the stainless steel strainer magnetically connects to the lid with ease. No need to twist the infuser into place or fumble with clamps. Once the strainer is in place, tea is brewed by flipping Imbue upside down.

These High-School Students Found a Way to Make Any Headphones Wireless | Entrepreneur

May 18, 2015May 18, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Wireless headphones have been around for awhile, but a device that can make any old set of headphones wireless is about to hit the market.

Launching their Kickstarter campaign today, the team behind the Spiro X1 wants to give you a no-strings-attached listening experience. The Spiro X1 (or “X1” for short) is a circular device that plugs into headphones using the connection typically taken by a wire. A user would simply disconnect their wires from the headphone jack and plug in the X1 in its place. Once connected, bluetooth technology allows users to listen to music and answer calls through their headphones with no physical wire.

In addition to making headphones wireless, customers can use the product to answer calls and play or pause songs using the X1’s center button, as well as adjust the volume via the side buttons. Also notable are the X1’s proprietary circuit board and near-weightlessness (it weighs less than a quarter of a pound, measuring an estimated 38 millimeters in diameter and approximately 12 millimeters thick).

MONO: Glasses 3D Printed to Fit Your Face | Design Milk

May 14, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Chances are if you wear glasses that you know how frustrating it is to walk into a glasses store where you have to try on a million pairs that just don’t seem to be the right size for your face. Hong Kong-based architect Edmond Wong launched ITUM, a brand seeking to remedy this problem. I mean, if clothes come in various sizes, shouldn’t glasses? MONO is a brand-new range of glasses that are 3D printed to fit your face. How genius is that?!

This Entrepreneur Thinks His Startup, Farmigo, Will Kill Off Supermarkets | Forbes

May 11, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In the not-too-distant future, says Benzi Ronen, founder and CEO of Farmigo, consumers will use mobile phones to order non-perishables like toothpaste and toilet paper from Amazon and then buy their fresh food–from “humanely raised” lamb chops to “locally foraged” ramps–from his six-year-old online grocer based in Brooklyn, NY. Using technology and community-organizing techniques borrowed from the Obama campaign, he is building a network of Farmigo reps who are spreading the word throughout their neighborhoods and distributing food at weekly pick-ups. Farmigo operates only in New York, New Jersey and parts of northern California, but Ronen, 44, believes he can take his model to all 50 states. This interview has been edited and condensed.

5 Benefits of Switching to a Paperless Office | BusinessTips.com

April 10, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve been to a thrift store recently, you might have noticed a surplus of briefcases. Lots of people are getting rid of briefcases because they’re relics of a time before laptops, iPads, and smartphones ruled the workplace.

Briefcases made sense in the era when you hauled dozens of papers to work each day, but that era is over. So why hasn’t your business made the shift away from paper? There are dozens of benefits of a paperless office. Here are five of the most important:

1. You’ll diminish your environmental impact. A single sheet of paper might seem innocuous, but its production requires an incredible amount of energy. The papermaking process is resource-intensive. After trees are harvested — usually by machine — they’re taken to a factory and transformed into paper through a process involving harmful chemicals. The resulting paper is then bundled and transported to the front door of your office. Then it ends up in a recycling bin after it jams your printer.

12 Industries to Keep An Eye On | Small Biz Trends

April 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As technology evolves and startups jump on these advancements, a few industries are fundamentally changing. And as these industries push forward, they create even greater advancements of their tech.

Curious what market sector is most likely to be disrupted in the next few years, we asked a group of startup founders the following question:

“What industry do you believe is going to have the biggest advancements in technology in the next five years, and why?”

Here’s what YEC community members had to say:

Buying a watch in 1880 — history you probably didn’t know! | Author Unknown

April 6, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you were in the market for a watch in 1880, would you know where to get one? You would go to a store, right?

Well, of course you could do that, but if you wanted one that was cheaper and a bit better than most of the store watches, you went to the train station!

Sound a bit funny?

Well, for about 500 towns across the northern United States , that’s where the best watches were found.

Why were the best watches found at the train station?

The railroad company wasn’t selling the watches, not at all.

The telegraph operator was.

Continue reading “Buying a watch in 1880 — history you probably didn’t know! | Author Unknown” →

The Entrepreneur Lighting Up Communities in Need | Inc.com

March 26, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

On a cold Denver night in 2010, Steve Katsaros walked past a building under construction that was lit up like a Christmas tree by incandescent bulbs strung along each floor, all powered by a diesel generator. “I wondered about all the fuel being used and the pollution caused by keeping those lights on,” he recalls. The next morning, Katsaros, then a patent agent at a law firm and a trained mechanical engineer, woke up and sketched a design for a solar-powered light bulb. Four days later, he filed for a patent.