Recently in Ann Arbor, MI Category

Lenders would ask, "How is it your going to make money with Pfizer closing down across the street?". They didn't get that the store was just a face for their online store. As a matter of fact, Tree Town Toys wasn't wincing from the Michigan economy at all, it was growing on wealth from around the country.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Financing | Tree Town Toys

Last time I wrote about Tree Town Toys, I mentioned how great their website functioned and how complete their toy selection was.  After speaking with Hans Masing (co-owner with his wife Tricia), I discovered that there is a lot more behind their store then just toys.

Spurred on the success of Brain Station, their online store, the Masings created a home base for their operations in Ann Arbor.  This is an area I feel that most entrepreneurs and business owners would feel missing if they operated solely as an online store.  With Tree Town Toys, Tricia and Hans had a home. 

As many return readers may note, Michigan Innovators has been spending a good portion of the summer on financing innovation.  With the departure of Pfizer from Ann Arbor, it's easy to envision large bags of money running out of Michigan's borders.  So when Hans came to investors trying to open his store across the street from the now nearly empty facility, they were skeptical.  What they failed to see was the huge potential of the online portion of the store.

So how did Hans get the investors to turn around?  While convincing numbers of their online sales always helps, managing growth is an important step as well.  If you know an industry well, there is always a void that needs filling.  Few other specialty toy stores had an online component to their stores.  This left an untapped market in the palms of the Masing's hands.

It also pays to have a unique perspective.  As an IT professor, Hans is far more business minded then the typical toy store owner.  Information technology is one of the fastest changing fields out there, so keeping up with the business world is simple for the couple.

Finally, in order to compete with the big guys, it helps to buy and sell like the big guys.  A new addition to their toy store family, Dragonfly Depot, brings the online store potential to other small mom and pop toy stores.  By managing inventories for multiple stores in one facility, all parties can benefit by splitting costs that would be too substational for each store to undertake on their own.  Stay tuned for more info on Dragonfly Depot.

While a great business plan and a smart approach towards investors always helps a business get off the ground, Tree Town Toys really taught me that when you have all of the pieces to your business puzzle set, everything will fall into place.  By starting with what you know best and expanding beyond your own experiences, you will find that there are more untapped pieces of business ideas that are waiting to be put together.

When creating a new product, there are so many things that can go wrong (many of which cannot be prepared for or are completely unexpected), so it only makes sense to use existing technology or ideas in your product to increase reliability.

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Filed under: Alphonse Anderson | Ann Arbor, MI | Charles King | Competing Globally | Financing | Innovation | Renewable Energy | Start-Ups | Velocity² Wind | Wind Power

When talking to Alphonse Anderson and Charles King of Velocity² Wind I found that one of the most interesting parts of their process to create a new product of small wind turbine was how much of their product was, essentially, theirs. King said, "we try to re-invent as little as possible. Use what's out there."

What is "out there" for small wind turbines? Again, King: "We've found ourselves taking ideas from aerospace to roller coasters." Roller coasters? Sure, the aerospace industry can easily offer some design ideas to small wind turbines, but the thought to look into how roller coasters are built (presumably regarding their light-weight structure; they wouldn't comment) is marvelous.

It turns out that Anderson and King have tapped in to a historically successful business plan: don't re-invent the wheel. When creating a new product, there are so many things that can go wrong (many of which cannot be prepared for or are completely unexpected), so it only makes sense to use existing technology or ideas in your product to increase reliability.

I posed this question to Alphonse Anderson and Charles King of Velocity² Wind: "what are some of the first things you should do when you first have an idea for a new business?"

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Filed under: Alphonse Anderson | Ann Arbor, MI | Charles King | Competing Globally | Financing | Innovation | Renewable Energy | Start-Ups | Wind Power

I posed this question to Alphonse Anderson and Charles King of Velocity² Wind: "what are some of the first things you should do when you first have an idea for a new business?"

King told me that it's necessary to make sure that the idea is original. He said to use "Google Patents and research databases of universities to look for Phd. topics" and to find where technology is now. There's no sense in spending your time on a product for which you cannot get a patent or a service that is already being developed by another (presumably larger) company.

He said that "you must look at your personal network to find people who are willing to help you." This goes beyond asking freinds and family for money. When starting a new endeavor, you need to know who can be a part of your program, or even who knows somebody who can offer advice or a service. It's much more efficient to utilise your network rather than the yellow pages for your entrepreneurial needs.

King followed up by saying "If you believe that you have no connections, then you're not trying hard enough."

They have chosen to use alternative materials in building small wind turbines in an attempt to increase efficiency and decrease cost. With only a few tweaks of materials, Anderson and King have a real shot at breaking into the fledgling industry.

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Filed under: Alphonse Anderson | Ann Arbor, MI | Charles King | Competing Globally | Financing | Innovation | Renewable Energy | Start-Ups | The MORE Program | Velocity² Wind | Wind Power

Recently, I met with Alphonse Anderson and Charles King, founders of Velocity² Wind and participants in the MORE Program. They have chosen to use alternative materials in building small wind turbines in an attempt to increase efficiency and decrease cost. With only a few tweaks of materials, Anderson and King have a real shot at breaking into the fledgling industry.

The fledgling industry of small wind power, that is. Large-scale commerical-grade wind power is already a huge market, making up most of the 5.2 thousand Megawatts of wind power that was installed in the U.S. just last year. However, the small wind industry is still struggling to take flight, mostly due to the consumer worries of cost efficiency, noise, and visual impact. Oh, and safety issues, too (although there have been no 'innocent bystander' casualties due to wind power. The only casualties have been to workers installing and repairing the large-scale systems, and an unfortunate parachuting accident).

When King had the idea for using alternative materials for a wind turbine, he realized that the only way to properly approach his idea was to attempt it in small wind systems, whether or not it would work in large-scale wind. He remarked that trying to pitch his idea to the large-scale wind companies would be futile, but small wind was a good bet since no company has jumped out to be the leader.

Anderson and King have been working with prototypes of their design and comparing it to existing designs from competitors. So far, their tests have given them great results. Since they decided to enter an industry that has not yet solidified may very well allow them to break through to the surface soon.

UM has begun to meet new entrepreneurs halfway by allowing them to "utilize the school's enormous resources [such as] faculty consulting, laboratory equipment, research projects and professional development classes."

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Competing Globally | Innovation | Start-Ups | University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is (finally) doing its part to lift Michigan's economy: it has recently opened many of its resources to area entrepreneurs not linked to the university.

A good way to turn around this poor economy is by creating new industries to bring money into Michigan. UM has begun to meet new entrepreneurs halfway by allowing them to "utilize the school's enormous resources [such as] faculty consulting, laboratory equipment, research projects and professional development classes."

What does this mean? Well, for one, that UM is feeling the slow economy. In addition, it has decided to take steps toward changing things. With any luck, area entrepreneurs will be able to use UM's resources to solidify their business in the market.

Tree Town Toys fills a market void in the toy industry, providing their product list in multiple different search queries, from age range to different skill sets required for games. From local to national business plans, this local company might have both figured out.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Information Technology | Start-Ups | Tree Town Toys

One year ago this month, Hans and Tricia Masing took their online store, Brain Station, to the store front.  Opening their first store, Tree Town Toys in Ann Arbor, they were looking to provide unique and interesting toys to the community.  As new parents, they were driven by their own search for great toys for their children.

As automotive engineer (Tricia) and an IT guy (Hans), the two seem to be an odd couple in the toy industry.  However, combing their quest for toys with Hans' IT experience proved fruitful and helped create their online store Brain Station.  Filling a market void in the toy industry, Tree Town Toys and Brain Station provides their product list in multiple different search queries, from age range to different skill sets required for games.  Want to develop hand eye coordination? They've got 243 toys for that.  Toys for a 1-2 year olds?  Choose from 53 different toys for them.

As all start up companies discover financing is one of the most difficult portions of the process.  Hans and Tricia were no exception to this.  Tricia notes the Michigan economy as a stumbling block.  She notices a change in targeting perspective as one solution to their initial problems.  Current perspectives are interested in national, not local business.  Managing an online store for Tree Town Toys, which is very similar to their Brain Station store, must have helped to ease investors minds.  While the store was only in Ann Arbor, their products are still being sold across the United States.

Beyond toys, Tree Town Toys provides the community with two other great assets.  They are helping our economy by providing more jobs.  Those interested in marketing, customer service, and toys should check out their careers page. Need a creative activity for your own children?  Take a look at their events page.

Peer-2-Peer file sharing programs don't offer much security to their users. Users are capable of titling their files as they please and use of a p2p network requires direct access to a users file network. Tranche solves this problem with their Java based client-server network.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Information Technology | University of Michigan

File sharing systems like Bear Share and Limewire are unsecured file sharing systems because they offer little security to their users.  The two areas in which peer-to-peer (P2P) programs fail the most are in accountability and the need to directly access users files.  Additionally, shared files are not indexed, so the user relies on the file holder to provide secure and accurate data.

In enters Tranche, a client server network which provides secure data sharing for the scientific community.  Created by Jayson Falkner at the University of Michigan in late 2005, Tranche is part of the National Resource for Proteomics and Pathways. Tranche proved to be a reliable data bank for proteomics and is now being used in the fields of glycomics, metabalomics, and 2D gel data.

Tranche goes against the grain in their pursuit of security.  Their software is built off of Java Webstart and is a complete server side operation.  Several security issues are resolved by simply switching to server side software.  Tranche controls all of the data that is shared over their network and keeps their users safe by monitoring all of the files shared on their system.  In addition, users must request the ability to upload data to the server.  Once they have approval, their log in is typically valid for only two weeks.  This ensures that a user name and password cannot be stolen and reused by an distrusted user. Upon upload, all files are given a unique hash. This enables quick retrieval of data from the database.

Finally, users are allowed to encrypt their data and share their passphrase with limited parties.  So while anyone can log onto Tranche and download data as they please, you can restrict access with passphrases.  If at a later time the owner wishes to publish their data, they have the option to share the passphrase.

As virus's become more advanced and the number of infected computers rises, I'm sure many more programs will follow in Tranches footsteps. Their client-server environment keeps their users safe and happy.  On top of all of that, Tranche is completely free to use and is open source.

Even if you do not consider yourself "passionate" about tea, the Arbor tea website is more than just a product catalog, it is a tea experience.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Arbor Teas | Jeremy and Aubrey Lopatin | Tea and Tea Products

Anyone out there who has a passion for tea must take a look at arborteas.com.  Arbor teas offers every variety of tea imaginable and a host of tea-related items including:  teapots, travel mugs, infusers, tea timers, books,  apparel, and more.  Arbor teas also offers some other great products.  They have tea samplers, gift sets, tea for children, and special blends to make iced tea.    For those interested in refining their tea palate, Arbor tea has a Tea of the Month Club, and a World Tour Club. 

Even if you do not consider yourself  "passionate" about tea, the Arbor tea website is more than just a product catalog, it is a tea experience.  Arbor teas offers informative descriptions and detailed photos of every type of tea they sell from Golden Yunnan Black Tea to White Velvet White Tea.    Each tea also has an expert review and customer rating.  For those of us who are far from tea connoisseurs, the information contained on the Arbor Teas website is quite informative.  I now know what Rooibos is and I've learned how to make Kombucha.  

The website offers some other great features.  The amount of information contained on the website is impressive.  The website explains the history of tea, the health benefits of tea, and how to properly store tea.  Arborteas.com teaches you how to host a proper tea party,  how to taste tea like a pro, and how to pair food and tea.  I could go on and on.  The website basically tells you everything you could possibly want to know about tea and more.  The website also has an active blog for tea lovers to share their tea experiences. 

The co-founders of Arbor Teas, Jeremy and Aubrey Lopatin, are a husband and wife team whose obvious passion for top quality tea has inspired them to create a great company which not only sells high-quality tea and tea products, but offers their customers the ability to make every sip of tea a special occasion.  Lucky for us here in southeast Michigan, Jeremy and Aubrey Lopatin are just as passionate about their home town, Ann Arbor, Michigan, as they are about tea.  These two are most importantly passionate about our environment.  All of Arbor Teas are organic.  Arbor Teas has partnered with CarbonFund.org to ensure that their teas are packaged in environmentally-friendly materials and to promote energy efficiency and reforestation. 

What Spark does is, well, just about everything to help entrepreneurs to build a better business, or even to start one. Some of the services that Spark provides are the Business Accelerator, Online Business Planning, and, of course, Financing.

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Filed under: Ann Arbor Spark | Ann Arbor, MI | Education & Training | Financing | Start-Ups | Venture Capital

What's out there to help future entrepreneurs to succeed? As previously mentioned, there are many options available for students. As it turns out, there are also plenty of opportunities that aren't run by a university.

One organization that is trying to help innovation in the area is Ann Arbor Spark. The website says that "Ann Arbor Spark is a public-private partnership whose mission is to advance innovation-based economic development in the greater Ann Arbor region." It's an organization drawing from some of the businesses, communities, universities, and government resources in and around the Ann Arbor area.

What Spark does is, well, just about everything to help entrepreneurs to build a better business, or even to start one. Some of the services that Spark provides are the Business Accelerator, Online Business Planning, and, of course, Financing:

In addition to attempting to connect entrepreneurs with venture capitalists and Angel funds, whose mission "is to make equity investments in early stage and emerging growth companies," Spark also provides lots of information on credit enhancement and Tax-Exempt Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRBs).

Spark has received great press from Fortune's 100 best places to live and launch, particularly for its role in The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund. Spark also runs a Regional Incubator for interested businesses.

Spark's network is very large, and there is much more information available on www.annarborspark.org. The website is a useful tool for anybody interested in getting help with their business. Also, as an added bonus, Spark keeps track of positive news regarding Michigan and its businesses. It's not surprising to see that Spark has received awards for all its tremendous, and necessary, services that it offers to everybody.

Redhedd.com was created by Steve Warrington when he discovered that the world's population of red heads is less than 2% and steadily decreasing. The mission of Redhedd.com is to "Save the Redheads."

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Filed under: Ann Arbor, MI | Redhedd.com | Social Media | Steve Warrington

Here is an unique innovation created specifically for red heads and those who have an appreciation for red heads.  Redhedd.com, "The only free social network for red heads," is similar to myspace.com where anyone with an affinity for red heads can create a profile, chat, and download photos.  Redhedd.com distinguishes itself by having more character and personality than mass social networks like myspace.com.  Redhedd.com also prides itself on being spam-free.

Redhedd.com was created by Steve Warrington when he discovered that the world's population of red heads was approximately 2% and steadily decreasing.  The mission of Redhedd.com is to "Save the Redheads." Redhedd.com is not just a social networking website, it also offers many additional features.  Redhedd.com provides its members with the ablilty to browse photos and profiles of other members for potential dating connections.  Redhedd.com offers products such as Redhedd.com apparel, posters, and bags.  At Redhedd.com, people can share music, videos, links to interest groups, and receive information regarding upcoming events.  

Redhedd.com's unique perspective has gained a lot of media attention since its creation in June  2007.  Redhedd.com, and its creator Steve Warrington, have been the subject of several web articles.  They have been featured on several television shows including MTV Canada, GM TV in the UK, and the St. Patrick's Day 2008 episode of the Today Show.  Although Redhedd.com targets a rather specific segment of the population, the website has shown impressive traffic and continues to gain popularity.  With approximately 3000 users, Redhedd.com has people logging-on from the United States, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Japan, and several other countries on the map.