After almost two months in Boston, I’ve had a front-row seat to the amazing successes of bunch of local startups. Beginning with Startup Weekend Boston, through DartBoston events, networking events, BostInnovation features, and the first two rounds of MassChallenge, watching — and participating in– the evolution of these companies has been inspiring, to say the least. In fact, I’ve definitely been bitten by the startup bug.
Here’s a couple of my favorites:
1. The Swapaholics- You’ve seen my writing for Shoestring Magazine, but did you know that Melissa also launched The Swapaholics, an awesome blend of “retail therapy and recycling,” this year as well? I’ve been working for her and her cofounder, Amy of PunkyStyle, for the last month or so as their marketing & events planning assistant (aka jill of all trades). Our epic clothing swaps will continue this Saturday, 7/31, in Worcester’s Canal District (here’s the FB page)… and since it’s my first ever swap and Nightline will be there, well, I’m pretty much giddy about it. Think: getting to raid the coolest closet ever… while getting rid of those pieces that were just taking up space in your own closet! Not only does is The Swapaholics concept eco-friendly, it’s also a great way to go shopping during the recession without spending all of your hard-earned savings. Swap leftovers go to charity, so you’re giving back to the community too. What’s not to love, really?
Retail Therapy Meets Recycling!
2. Cykod and Webiva- According to their website, Cykod is “… a forward thinking, Rails-based web start-up looking to change the way you interact and play with the web.” In language for us web dummies, Cykod is the rockin husband & wife team of Martha and Pascal who help design seriously amazing websites. They also have an adorable leg-licking dog who is sure to melt even the most hard-hearted visitors to their hidden gem of an office space. As for Webiva, in short, it’s a content management system for web design/programming that makes life so.much.easier. Webiva’s mascot is a super cool opera chick named Brunhilda, which for me made it an easy decision to try out off the bat. Pascal does the programming end of things (which automatically impresses me), and Martha’s design work is just amazing. I want to do work like hers when I grow up!
Webiva (and the awesome operatic Brunhilda!)
3. Pinyadda- I’ve been using Pinyadda for ages, it feels like. Long story short, it’s a news/blog/rss feed aggregator with social media sharing and discussion capabilities. What makes it different from something like Google reader is the key Pinyadda “pin it” feature- by pinning something, you can start a discussion thread on the Pinyadda site itself, or share your thoughts on Twitter or Facebook. You can also follow other people’s pins, which is a great way to have primo content selected you from fields you’re less familiar with! I love the interactive nature of this, which is why I’ve found myself using it more and more, and starting to phase out Google reader altogether. Oh, and did I mention how cool all of the Pinyadda/BostInnovation kids are? Always friendly and always at networking & startup events.
Pinyadda!
There’s the trifecta (part one, of course) of awesome Boston-based startups… but don’t worry, there’s many more to come, and new ones are popping up every day!
What cool startups have you come across? Any you’ve discovered and now can’t live without?
