AUSTIN, Texas

RetailMeNot.com (www.retailmenot.com), the largest online coupon site in the United States, announced the launch of its new mobile-optimized site, http://m.retailmenot.com. Designed using feedback from the RetailMeNot community, the new mobile site provides on-the-go savings to iOS and Android users by giving them access to hundreds of thousands of deals from retailers from around the globe.

In addition to its extensive online coupon inventory, RetailMeNot intends to expand the platform to feature curated and exclusive in-store and mobile optimized deals from retailers wanting to reach the increasingly large population of mobile consumers.

“In 2011, we experienced triple digit year-over-year growth of visits to RetailMeNot.com via a handheld device, which is why we made substantial investments in developing our mobile product capabilities over the past six months. The initial result of our efforts is an experience that gives our users the most efficient method of searching for and redeeming online coupons on their mobile device via m.retailmenot.com,” said Cotter Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of WhaleShark Media, Inc., the operator of RetailMeNot.com. “In the near future, we’re planning additional development and innovation in the mobile space as we continue to help consumers shop smart and save.”

RetailMeNot’s mobile site provides capabilities for consumers to:

• Search Hundreds-of-Thousands of Online Coupons: Users can search for and locate coupons through Suggestive Store Search, most “Popular” stores or via curated “Top Coupon” listings
• Easily Redeem Promotional Codes: This quick-use option allows users to copy and paste an online coupon or promotional code directly into a store’s checkout
• Conveniently Email coupons to a personal account for use when they are at home and ready to purchase

“Consumers exhibit different shopping behaviors on a handheld device versus a PC or laptop. We strove to understand these variations in behavior, and created an experience that we believe meets the needs of shoppers on the go,” said John Faith, Senior Vice President of Mobile for WhaleShark Media, Inc. “The result is a great mobile website founded in significant usability feedback and testing. m.retailmenot.com is a user-friendly experience powered by a comprehensive online coupon inventory, and functionality that will help consumers during their shopping experience.”

Some facts about the mobile market:

According to a January 2012 report in eMarketer, mobile commerce sales increased by 91% in 2011 reaching almost $7 billion. That number is forecasted to grow to $31 billion by 2015.
According to an April 2011 report by comScore, if you factor in all of the devices that use iOS including iPhones, iPads and iPod touches, Apple reached 37.9 million people. Android, according to the data, reached 23.8 million on phones and tablets.

Methodology for Ipsos Survey

This is a finding from an Ipsos poll conducted January 5-9, 2012. For the survey, a nationally representative sample of 1,001 randomly-selected adults aged 18 and over residing in the U.S. was interviewed by telephone via Ipsos’ U.S. Telephone Express omnibus. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within ±3.1 percentage points. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample’s regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

About RetailMeNot.com

RetailMeNot.com (www.retailmenot.com) is the leading consumer destination for collaborative online coupon, deal and promotional code hunting and sharing. Our mission is to help consumers save money and enjoy a hassle-free discount shopping experience. Since November 2006, our users have shared hundreds of thousands of deals and offers from retailers from across the globe. Online coupons are rated and ranked by users, ensuring that quality deals rise to the top and expired coupons drop down the list. RetailMeNot.com is operated by WhaleShark Media, Inc., the world’s leading marketplace for online coupons and deals.

Make sure to ” like ” RetailMeNot.com on Facebook and follow the company via Twitter @retailmenot.

About WhaleShark Media, Inc.

WhaleShark Media, Inc. (www.whalesharkmedia.com) is the world’s leading marketplace for online coupons and deals. The company’s websites enable consumers seeking to save money to find hundreds of thousands of offers from retailers across the globe. WhaleShark Media welcomes more than 300 million visitors to shop its sites every year. The WhaleShark Media portfolio of coupon and deal websites includes www.RetailMeNot.com, the largest online coupon site in the United States; www.VoucherCodes.co.uk, the largest online coupon site in Europe; www.Deals.com; www.Deals2Buy.com; www.CouponSeven.com; www.CouponSeven.com; and www.Gutschein-Codes.de. WhaleShark Media is a fast-growing, profitable company funded by venture capital firms Austin Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Adams Street Partners, Google Ventures, J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP).

MapMyFitness’ CEO Richard Jalichandra commented that the app will provide a “a new, more personalized experience” for sharing fitness achievements. Jalichandra took the reins at MapMyFitness last June, and had previously been at Technorati, among other firms.

HOUSTON, Jan. 17, 2012 – Onit, a leading provider of business productivity and process management apps, today announced that it has raised $4.1 million in Series B funding led by Austin Ventures. Also participating in the round are the principals of RedHouse Associates, a leading Houston incubator and consultant that specializes in providing strategic advice and services to entrepreneurs and technology start-up companies. Onit plans to use the funding to accelerate product innovation and expand its line of business productivity and process apps to help companies streamline operations, improve employee productivity and drive customer value.

“Onit is a unique offering for business users that need to solve business problems with easy to use apps,” commented Eric M. Elfman, the CEO of Onit. “Onit Apps streamline everyday processes and empower managers across all departments, business units and divisions to achieve total visibility and management of their business processes. This funding will be used to develop a sales and channel strategy, expand outside the legal vertical, build out the Onit App Builder (a self-service tool for end users to create their own Onit Apps), and make key hires in Engineering, Sales and Marketing.”

“Process is inherent in everything a company does to make it as efficient, productive and profitable as possible,” said John Thornton, General Partner at Austin Ventures. “Onit Apps are for companies that can’t justify the spend for a full blown Business Process Management (BPM) tool but that still need more than email and spreadsheets to automate, manage and track business-critical processes. We are excited to be a part of this innovation to equip business users with powerful tools that don’t require an expensive investment or IT resources.”

John Thornton, General Partner of Austin Ventures will join Doug Erwin, RedHouse Chairman and Principal, and Eric Elfman on the Onit Board of Directors. Erwin will serve as the Chairman of the Board.

About Onit
Onit was formed by legal software industry experts Eric M. Elfman and Eric A. Smith, co-founders of Datacert, a leading provider of enterprise spend management software. Launched in early 2010, Onit deploys Onit Apps to simplify business process automation and improve business productivity across all departments and industries. The Onit App Builder allows business users to drive efficiency and productivity by combining business process management, project management and information management into one easy to use tool so the user can create their own Onit Apps without having to rely on IT for support.

Businesses have processes for everything — whether it’s hiring a vendor or law firm, terminating an employee, submitting a contract for review, requesting a trademark request, obtaining an NDA, etc. Most of these processes are manual, paper intensive and cumbersome. With Onit Apps, processes are automated in a few clicks, responsible parties are notified immediately, and data collection is centralized. Onit doesn’t require any software to download or resources from IT. For more information, visit www.onit.com or contact 1-800-281-1330.

About RedHouse Associates, LLC
RedHouse Associates provides strategic advice and services to assist entrepreneurs in developing business plans, devising product strategies, growing sales organizations, preparing senior management teams for interaction with investors, and advise our clients on raising capital and strategic exits. Visit www.RedHouseAssociates.com for more information.

AUSTIN, Texas–January 10, 2011–Dachis Group, the world’s leader in Social Business, today announced the launch of Social Performance Monitor (SPM), an online service powered by the company’s big data analytics platform that helps global companies measure social media’s impact on brand performance.

Social Performance Monitor (SPM) is the first subscription service and third social measurement application offered by Dachis Group. In addition to Social Performance Monitor, Dachis Group offers the Social Business Index, a free site that ranks the performance of the world’s most social brands, and Social Portfolio Insights, an application that enables brands to assemble and track their global portfolio of social accounts and coordinate with the individuals that manage them. Dachis Group’s suite of social measurement applications is available today by visiting www.socialbusinessindex.com.

“The world’s largest companies and top brands are realizing the unique brand engagement potential, along with the powerful measurability and traceability inherent in social media,” said Jeff Dachis, CEO, Chairman and Founder, Dachis Group. “With the launch of Social Performance Monitor, Dachis Group continues its mission to provide brand marketers with performance tools to measure the true value of their investments and efforts in social marketing. Uniquely, Social Performance Monitor can bring clarity and definition to the once amorphous concept of social media measurement for brand marketers.”

Social Performance Monitor is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) application that enables organizations to gain insight into the business benefits delivered by social across brand marketing business outcomes including Brand Awareness, Brand Love, Brand Mindshare, and Brand Advocacy. It leverages a unique set of insights to isolate the specific impact of brand marketing initiatives:

-Performance Insights: Metrics and underlying measures correlated to brand marketing business outcomes (starting with Brand Awareness, Brand Love, Mindshare, and Advocacy) for the specific geographic region, brand, and organization where the marketing initiatives occurred.
-Event Correlation Insights: Correlation between performance and external events (product launches, mergers, acquisitions, marketing campaigns, etc.) that may account for performance fluctuations to help isolate the contribution from social marketing efforts (vs. external forces).
-Content Insights: Correlation of performance to social marketing activities and behaviors to assist with attribution of specific actions to business benefits received.
-Conversation Insights: Analysis and evolution of long running conversation topics that result from behaviors and marketing activities to understand the attributes of the content or strategy that resonate with the engaged market and insight into how that content shapes the psychographics and opinions of the audience.
-Trend Insights: Trending insights to help understand relative performance over time vs. industry, competitive, and best in class performance.
-Benchmarking Insights: Provide region, subsidiary, department, and competitive benchmarking to help organizations zero in on where outsized increases and decreases in specific metrics and measures are originating.
-Insight Engine: An analytics engine that monitors all of the above for your brands, regions, departments, and subsidiaries to highlight the specific insights that need attention or action.

“As social has matured into a mission critical component of a brand’s marketing mix, simply measuring ‘Likes and Followers’ is no longer adequate for marketers to measure the impact and return of their significant investments in social marketing initiatives,” said Erik Huddleston, CTO and EVP Product, Dachis Group.

Social Performance Monitor is being used by major brand marketers from a variety of industries to provide insights and intelligence used to drive Social Performance investments.

The Dachis Group’s family of Social Business Intelligence applications is powered by the company’s big data analytics platform which analyzes the Social Business Graph of more than 25,000 companies and 30,000 brands, including over one hundred million social accounts, processing several hundred million social signals through the use of natural language processing, semantic analysis, machine learning, and clustering algorithms with updates in near real time.

To learn more:
Register at the Social Business Index: http://www.socialbusinessindex.com
Social Performance Monitor: http://www.dachisgroup.com/measure-your-social-performance/
Sign up for an upcoming webinar: http://www.dachisgroup.com/events

About Dachis Group
Dachis Group powers the design, development, management, and measurement of Social Business performance for the world’s leading companies.

Dachis Group:
Measures social performance with Dachis Group Social Business Intelligence

Manages social brands with Dachis Group Performance Brand Marketing

Connects the social enterprise with Dachis Group Connected Company

Through the combination of Dachis Group’s proprietary big data analytics platform, SaaS social intelligence data services applications, a comprehensive set of SaaS social engagement technology platforms, and world leading Social Business professional services group, large companies have one source to turn to for establishing powerful, effective, meaningful, and measurable engagement initiatives throughout their organizations.

The company serves global customers worldwide including clients AT&T, Citibank, Disney, Estée Lauder, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Nestlé, Nokia, and Target with a network of offices in 13 cities in seven countries, employing over 250 professionals.
Dachis Group develops and maintains the Social Business Index, providing ongoing real-time ranking, analysis, and benchmarking of Social Business adoption and performance of the most connected and engaged companies based on Dachis Group’s Social Business Intelligence as a Service (SBIaaS) data services platform.

Dachis Group operates and manages the Social Business Council, the largest peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing community for active Social Business practitioners.

Dachis Group hosts an ongoing series of annual Social Business Summits, exploring the most current ideas in Social Business thought leadership, fostering ongoing dialog among participants, and engaging other Social Business practitioners in real-time, in-person, day-long events around the globe.

Dachis Group operates as one of the world’s largest Facebook® Preferred Developer Consultants through Dachis Group and subsidiaries. The company has recently launched over 500 custom Facebook® applications, tabs, and Facebook® connect integrations for the world’s leading brands.

If you are interested in finding out how Dachis Group can help your business, contact inquiries@dachisgroup.com.
Dachis Group is always looking for talented individuals and leaders, contact opportunities@dachisgroup.com.

Media Contact
Ken Bruno
The Morris + King Company
Ken.Bruno@morris-king.com
(212) 561-7459

Dachis Group Contact
Jenny Murphy
Dachis Group
jenny.murphy@dachisgroup.com
(512) 461-2343

CoHabitat, Dallas’ premiere co-working space in Uptown, has graciously offered to host our team meetings. I have to say narrowing the field of submissions was quite difficult. Thus if we missed you this time…we will be back with another AVEH event in the Spring 2012. Below you will find all the necessary details for the event (your 20 min time slot and address).

Location:

Team Schedule:

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 1, 2011 – Noesis Energy is targeting the estimated $70B in annual U.S. energy waste by helping commercial and industrial customers drive greater energy efficiencies out of their operations. Backed by an initial investment of $6.5M from Austin Ventures, and support for follow-on acquisitions, the company plans to unveil a cloud-based energy management platform that combines free analytics tools, energy market data, educational resources and a community of experts to help in-house energy managers and third-party consultants make more informed energy management decisions. The service is expected to debut in early 2012.

As part of today’s news, Noesis Energy is announcing the acquisition of Managing Energy Inc. (MEI), an established provider of energy management and analytics software that will serve as the foundation for Noesis Energy’s offering. Launched in 1994 by seasoned energy engineers, MEI was one of the first web-based energy management solutions and is a recognized leader in the energy management space. The company is based in Ontario, Canada and has more than 6,000 buildings, 13,000 meters and 290 million square feet under management.

“Today’s energy management market is characterized by fragmented technologies and business processes that continue to breed rampant waste and inefficiencies amid escalating economic and regulatory pressures,” said Steven Meyers, president and founder of Rational Energy Network. “Despite good intentions, the majority of commercial and industrial users struggle to identify, implement and measure meaningful energy savings opportunities. It’s a huge information management and decision support problem that Noesis Energy is tackling head on.”

Lack of decision-quality data is a key challenge in helping organizations understand their energy consumption, define energy conservation initiatives and measure ongoing energy efficiency. This issue is particularly acute in commercial and industrial markets due to the sheer size and complexity of energy contracts and usage. While some of the largest institutional customers outsource these processes entirely, for most mainstream businesses the responsibility falls to in-house energy managers and third-party consultants who are often inadequately staffed or equipped to implement a comprehensive plan. Through technology, Noesis Energy will help all energy professionals implement more efficient and effective energy management decisions.

“With billions of dollars wasted each year from energy inefficiency, our goal is to bridge the gap between people, processes and technology, and reinvent how the commercial and industrial market thinks about and manages its energy consumption,” said Scott Harmon, CEO and founder of Noesis Energy. “Information is power. Noesis Energy is changing the way energy data is captured, analyzed and shared to help energy professionals make more informed, actionable energy management decisions.”

Where it makes sense, Noesis Energy will pursue ongoing development, merger and acquisition opportunities in the energy management space including but not limited to: energy spend management/accounting, energy efficiency/optimization and energy management services.

For more information on Noesis Energy, please visit www.noesis.com.

About Noesis Energy
Noesis Energy is the intelligent energy management platform for commercial and industrial energy professionals. Bridging the gap between people, processes and technology, our analytics tools, energy market data, educational resources and community of experts empower users – from in-house energy managers to third-party consultants – to make more informed, actionable energy management decisions. Noesis Energy is backed by Austin Ventures and maintains offices in Austin, Texas and Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. For more information, visit www.noesis.com.

Media Contact:
Cybele Diamandopoulos
For Noesis Energy
512-535-4422
cybele@foliocom.com

We are excited to meet all of you and can’t wait to learn more about you on Wednesday Oct 26th at Coffee Groundz.

Narrowing the field of submissions was quite difficult as I continue to be impressed with how many Austin-based entrepreneurs are working on solving big problems.  We are excited to meet all of you and can’t wait to learn more about you on Thursday at Jo’s.  If we missed you this time… we will be back with another AVEH event in the Spring 2012.

After last week’s awesome Startup Week events (Capital Factory, Startup Bazaar, BigData Love, and the list goes on), we know Austin is chock-full of smart, savvy, entrepreneurs who are hard at work building new products and solving big problems. So we are eager to meet you, hear your new ideas, company stories, help with any business problems, etc. If you are new to AVEH, my predecessor wrote a great post on AVEH and tips on how to get the most out of a brief “cawfee tawk” with a VC.

To apply, please fill out this short company info form and upload an executive summary. We will do our best to find your team a 20 min time slot.  Since space is limited we will stop taking requests on the morning of Monday the 26th. If you are not accepted I will send you an email on Monday.  On Tuesday the 27th, I will post the schedule for Entrepreneurs’ Hours as well as email it to all accepted applicants.

As you probably notice I have not mentioned what the location for AVEH is, that is because we are going web 3.0 and “crowd-sourcing” the coffeehouse! So after you apply, feel free to post a reply here with your favorite java spot for meetings in Austin.

Advice for Entrepreneurs in this Uncertain Economy

June 20, 2011

The news ticker on the TV at the gym shows the dollar falling, the morning paper forecasts economic doubt, and the economic outlook appears to be dreary everywhere you turn. While it may seem counter-intuitive, business experts will tell you that now is a great time for entrepreneurs looking to start a new business. Often, times like these are when fortunes are made.

But how can an aspiring entrepreneur go about starting a business when the market seems against them? How can someone with big plans and new ideas ensure success in a dramatically different economic atmosphere? There are two things that will always be essential in getting a new business off the ground; a water-tight business plan and capital.

From Drawing Board to Blackboard
Those possessed by the entrepreneurial spirit and raring to get their business up and running sometimes find it difficult to translate great ideas into a well-thought-out business plan. For those, a trip back to the classroom may be necessary. Many entrepreneurs consider enrolling in an MBA program in order to fine-tune business practices and methods before a real-world launch.

“I get to see people who are very talented walking in the door a little lost — perhaps lacking some skills, habits or practices — become great business people,” says Phil Siegel, a successful serial entrepreneur and teacher at the Acton School of Business.

While traditional MBA programs have faced criticism for churning out risk-inclined financial speculators and investment bankers that led to the near-demise of Wall Street, other MBA curriculums with a focus on sound business practices and principled entrepreneurship are seeing a spike in interest.

“An MBA isn’t just for someone looking to land a job on Wall Street anymore,” says Siegel. “There are a few great schools offering an education that teaches how to really start and run a business from the ground up.” A handful of respected schools focus on the skills necessary to build and operate a business by offering MBA programs with entrepreneurship-specific tracks. Acton, where Siegel teaches, furthers the trend with their intensive one-year MBA in Entrepreneurship, an entire program focused on developing principled entrepreneurs and teaching them the tools, skills and judgment they need to run their own businesses.

Finding an Investor
For those who have the entrepreneurial enthusiasm, the know-how, and the structure in place to start building a business, but don’t yet have the funds to do so, the next step is finding an investor. Siegel says not to get discouraged even though investors may seem more tight-fisted given the economic downturn. “If you’re looking for money for a new venture, there are plenty of investors out there,” says Siegel. “The current economy hasn’t really affected the enthusiasm for great ideas.”

However, he cautions that all the normal “do’s and don’ts” of seeking funding are magnified in this kind of environment. Siegel urges entrepreneurs to:

Have a plan. “Come up with a business plan that is clear, concise, internally consistent and reasonable for the market opportunity.”

Know your customer. “Understand your customer and know why they would buy your product or service instead of what they buy today. Do market research, and have customer ‘pilots,’ if necessary, to prove that your product has value.”

Seek out experts. “Bring experts to your aid; they can help increase your credibility. In good times, people tend to believe your story, but in bad times, they’re more skeptical.

Prepare for profits. “Having done your business planning and preparation, ask yourself how you’re going to spend the money you are seeking. Who do you want to invest in your venture? What milestones are you going to reach in this round of investment capital? What will you need in terms of financing after you achieve your initial goals to get cash flows to break even?”

There will be many stops along the path to any entrepreneur’s first ribbon-cutting. Whether an MBA, an investor, both or neither are in their future, the advice given here should help any startup weather the economic storm.

“People are still willing to write checks,” concludes Siegel, “they’re just a little bit more careful, and a lot more cranky.”

For more information on the Acton School of Business’ one-year MBA in Entrepreneurship program, please visit http://www.actonmba.org.