[New York - May 2010] Mobile Startups

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Event Summary

This event will:

• Survey of the mobile startup ecosystem. How much money has been made, by whom, on what platforms, with what types of applications?
• What differentiates a successful mobile application from an unsuccessful one?
• Designing and specifying a mobile application.
• Finding and evaluating mobile application developers (agencies, freelancers, permanent hires).
• Developing an application for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile platforms. Building cross platform mobile applications.
• Usability testing and analytics for mobile applications.
• Submission and approval of mobile applications into app stores. App store terms.
• Effective pricing and marketing strategies for mobile applications.
• What are the opportunities for startups with the iPad and related devices as an application platform?

Moderator:

• Graham Lawlor, Founder of Ultra Light Startups and CEO of BrightMap

Panelists (alphabetic order):

• Nihal Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of buzzd
• Alex Muller, Co-founder and CEO of GPShopper
• Rachit Shukla, Co-founder and CEO of Two Toasters
• Greg Yardley, Co-founder and Vice President, Products – Ad Optimization at Flurry

Panel Video

Overview of Ultra Light Startups
(courtesy of Girls In Tech NYC)

Advice from Ultra Light Members – How to Select Technology Vendors
(courtesy of Girls In Tech NYC)

Pitch Video

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Pitch List

Presentation Slides

Main Presentation – Mobile Startups

Panelist Bios

Nihal Mehta
Nihal is CEO and co-founder of buzzd, a venture backed social cityguide on the iPhone, Blackberry and Android. Prior to buzzd, Nihal founded ipsh!, one of the first full-service mobile marketing agencies in 2001, which he sold to Omnicom in 2005, and Urbangroove, an online nightlife portal. Nihal also co-chairing the innovation advisory board for Reshma for Congress, co-founded the non-profit Project Ahimsa, and co-founded the mobile seed venture fund ENIAC.

Alex Muller
Alex is CEO and co-founder of GPShopper, a mobile marketing company that helps consumers connect with local retail stores. GPShopper builds applications for clients including Best Buy, Nikon, and LG and also markets its own applications, including Slifter, local shopping application with over 2 billion local product listings. GPShopper is funded by Allen & Co and since 2005 has built mobile applications for platforms including iPhone, Android, Blackberry, J2ME and BREW. Prior to GPShopper, Alex founded and sold Evolve Living, an environmental software company.

Rachit Shukla
Rachit is CEO and co-founder of Two Toasters, a mobile development agency that merges expert mobile strategy with focused development to shepherd an app from an idea all the way to the app store. Two Toasters’ work includes iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry and has been featured in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN and recently in an Apple iPhone Commercial. Previously, Rachit founded a number of startups including IdeaBahn, an idea management platform.

Greg Yardley
Greg is Co-founder and Vice President, Products – Ad Optimization at Flurry, a provider of analytics, deployment and monetization tools for mobile application developers. Before Pinch Media merged with Flurry in December 2009, Greg was Pinch’s co-founder and CEO. Prior to Pinch Media, Greg led product management for next-generation ad serving platforms at Yahoo! and Right Media and held product management positions at Root Markets and NexTag.