Author Archive for Taylor Stein

Coin

A lot of people struggle with having too many cards that they are trying to carry around.  Coin, a new company that is starting is looking to solve that.  They have created a device that will act as all of your credit cards.

It is very easy to load all of your cards onto this device, you simply swipe them into a small scanner that attaches to your phone.  Then you can take a picture of the card, so that you will always be able to see which one it is.  The coin device will sync from your phone, and your card will be easily accessible.

This is a great example of entrepreneurship because it solves a pain that many people have.  It will reduce the amount that people have to carry around, and ultimately make it easier to pay for things.  They also are making it more difficult to steal this card because it is attached to the GPS in your phone, and will not work if it is out of range for too long.

For the video they have posted on the web, click below:

http://youtu.be/w9Sx34swEG0

Printsagram

Printsagram is a very interesting kind of photo printing website.  They focus mainly on printing Instagram photos and have some really unique products available.  For example, people can purchase posters that display up to 200 Instagram pictures arranged in a unique order.  You can also order small books, stickers, and even cards.

Prinstagram also recently launched an app that allows customers to order prints right from their phone.  This is great because a lot of the pictures people take now are on their phone and enables people not to have to move these pictures in order to get great prints.

This is a new company that is just starting out, and is a great example of entrepreneurship.  I have been aware of them for a while, and they are working hard to continue to improve their website and their online presence.  The addition of the app was recent, as well as a redesign of their website.

Phonebloks

Phonebloks is a an entrepreneurial business that is still starting up.  The propose a new kind of phone that can be built by putting together pieces, much like a lego.  This would enable people not only to built there own unique phone, but also to replace just the pieces that were outdated and broken, and not the whole phone.

The concept was developed by Dave Hakkens, a recent college graduate.  He and Phonebloks have recently partnered with Motorola to get the Phoneblok to become a reality.  Motorola, who is owned by Google, is working to develop this this phone out as a something that is open source.  They will hopefully have something out by this winter.

What’s really neat about this sort of entrepreneurship is that it looks very different that many other entrepreneurs we see.  They are taking something like a cell phone, and turning it into a social enterprise.  They want to create sustainability, and make affording new pieces easier for people.  They also are not completely bound to Motorola in the sense that they are willing to work with other companies, which is also unusual.

I look forward to seeing what Phonebloks comes up with, even as a devoted Apple fan.  It will be interesting to see if their idea is one that takes off, or if it is not feasible because it is such an open source idea.

Uber

Trave Kalanick is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Uber – The car service app that lets you easily hail a cab and find a car in a big city.  They started out as a small company in San Francisco and have grown to many cities, serving lots of customers.

Their service is very easy to use.  You just create an account, including your credit card information and they bill you at the end of the month for the trips you have taken.  When you open up the app, you select what kind of car you want, where you want to go, and request it.  They then send you a text when your car is arriving.

What’s also great about Uber is that you can rate the quality of your ride, so that other people will know the quality of the driver they are about to get.  You also have the option to split the cost of the ride with someone else, in case you are looking to save a little bit of money.

This is such a great idea because almost everyone has smartphones today, and this makes the process of catching a cab much easier.  You have the ability to customize what kind of ride you want, and it enables you to hail a cab from inside of a restaurant, instead of out in the rain.

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Thrillist – A List of Some Sweet Thrills

Ben Lerer and Adam Rich have created a website for guys that is pretty much what every Grove City man is looking for – Sweet things to do.  They have articles on the latest and greatest of almost everything, told in what is usually a clever or comedic way.

Whether it is what beers would be good for the fall or how to not look like a bum while traveling, they have all of the information an self-respecting information a twenty-first century man needs.  The best part of it all is that it is presented in a way that makes you smile, using phrases such as “like a boss” and “hotness scale”.

They alss specialize in the daily emails they send out, keeping their reads constant up to date.  It’s amazing how they have been able to create such a successful things off of just what they love to do when they hang out with their friends.

Lerer and Rich were presented in the 30 under 30 article written by Forbes with their exact net worth unknown.