Friday, August 13, 2010

KickApps Launches Social Media Strategy Division Led by Alan Wolk and Justin Chase

* Although I spent a few great years at KickApps, my opinion is as objective and un-bias as possible.

I have to say that this was another great move by Alex Blum and his team. KickApps already has solid technology which over the years has evolved and is going through a hyper-innovation period at the moment. They have a world-class services team; no really it’s awesome. I had the pleasure of working with EVP of Clients Services Tom Gaffney during my time at KickApps, and they don’t get any better than Tom and his team; period. And now with the addition of a Social Media Strategy Division, I believe that this will further enhance the KickApps business, offering their clients strategies that transcend on-domain social experiences to destinations such as Facebook and Twitter. Although, I don't know Alan, I do know Justin Chase and his work, and can say KickApps is lucky to have him. Justin spent several years working on social strategies with Digitas NYC.

Although, the social software space is quite congested and highly competitive my instincts tell me that KickApps will continue to prove to be a real leader within the social media and online publishing spaces.

Also New: KickApps’s CMS Capabilities



Also New: KickApps AppStudio Allows you to create Facebook pages on-demand

Monday, August 9, 2010

Skillslate: Good Idea


So I spoke to Taylor VanAlle of Skillslate.com today and thought that the idea was pretty cool. She called it the "Match.com" for finding a handyman, dog walker,
tutor, or any other individual service provider focused on people as opposed to
companies.

They guys and gals are based in NYC, of course a startup at the moment, looking to change the way people find trusted, local individual business owners.

At First Glance:


The UI looks pretty good. Looks web 2.0'ish and is pretty easy to navigate. Its 1000 times nicer than Craigslist, which is always a plus. Also these guys seem focused unlike some of the other players. Also, its a Rails app so naturally being a fan of rails I like it already.

They are funded, just raised a seed round of venture capital. Of course, these folks are a bunch of young entrepreneurs so I'm definitely in their corner and would love to see them succeed.

Check it out at:

www.Skillslate.com