tekMendations: Uber issues

Lindt Chocoloate and Uber have been innocently inserted into a fatal hostage situation by an ISIS terrorist in Sydney Australia — but only Uber was found capitalizing upon it. The situation left three dead and many others fleeing for their lives, turning to their Uber apps to escape the area of violence.

Uber has had other negative press recently for questionable behavior of a driver in Washington D.C. But this time it was not the nature of the ride that was in question: it was the action of the app itself. Desperate customers naturally increased the demand for Uber rides during the emergency, and Uber responded to that demand by quadrupling fare prices. Taking advantage of helpless people in need. 

Uber did try to make up for this extreme error by refunding passengers and providing free rides. When a company fails to rise to the occasion AND backstabs its users, it is hard to save face with that current customer base. Uber's action broke the trust, the essential element of a strong customer relationship; not just a faulty product or rude service employee that could be remedied by discounts or free product. Hopefully Uber has learned to take the high road, and reap the benefits that would have overshadowed the profit: being a beacon of customer care, safety and dependability without question for the sake of their customers. 

By: Alex May, tekMountain Team Member

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tekMendations: weekly recommended knowledge from the Mountain

Inventor Kodjo Afate Gnikou, of the West African town of Togo, asks: “why is Africa always lagging behind when it comes to technology?” Yet his invention, the W.Afate 3-D printer, answers quite loudly that they no longer are.

Gnikou has disrupted the 3-D printing industry with his model constructed from e-waste bones revived from a junkyard in the city of Lomé . He has done so through the WoeLab hackerspace and his crowdfunding campaign, and for only $100. Not only is he recycling useless digital trash otherwise left to soil the landscape and harm inhabitants, but he is doing so to potentially relocate said waste to Mars and produce tools to colonize it (fitting, considering the successful launch of the Orion December 5th ).

Africa is increasingly showing promise of entrepreneurial spirit, and this revolutionary creation fully embodies that spirit. The W.Afate will propel Africa bravely into the international technology market and bring 3-D printing to the masses while cleaning up after them. 

By: Alex May, tekMountain Team Member

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We are expanding!

tekMountain is located on the third floor of CastleBranch's new building. However for the past 6 months only one side has been occupied. Each week of operations has brought in new members and quickly filled the existing space. Now as we look toward the future we will soon be opening an additional 10,000sqft of office space for new members. Aside from all the perks you get like Forged Strength + Conditioning gym classes, access to our on site brewery and food truck (Vittles), mentorship, Internet access, free printing, access to a variety of workshops, there are many great reasons to join tekMountain. Here, are some of our favorites.

BETTER PRODUCTIVITY 
Working in your living room or at Starbucks by yourself (or crammed in your garage with the rest of your team) is not inspiring, comfortable, or suitable in creating optimal productivity. More than likely these spaces don't have enough space for everyone to work and lack the appropriate IT infrastructure you need. Working from home allows for endless distractions like honey due lists, children/pet seeking attention, and your lazy boy and TV taunting you. tekMountian is a place that makes you feel good and enables you to do your best work.

NETWORKING TO BUILD A COMMUNITY 
The opportunity to network with other startups and other entrepreneurs throughout the day or at one of the many events we host weekly – everything from breakfast panels, happy hours (in the brewery), pitch competitions, guest speakers, and DevOps/IT meetups! We don't take just anyone of the street, everyone has to apply to join tekMountain. We aim to gather innovative people and businesses with a high caliber of potential. 

EVENTS 
Classes and events happen all the time, whether they are hosted by tekMountain staff or our members. panel events, allow entrepreneurs to meet industry leader and learn about trends related to various topics. Pitch competitions give aspiring entrepreneurs the chance to gain exposure, and industry specific Meetups allow for collaboration.

BE INSPIRED, BE INNOVATIVE 
Being creative is tough when your surroundings are static and uninspiring. We believe in innovation and inspiration. tekMountain staff constantly work to add more tools and resources for members. Helping encourage interaction and collaboration we are always looking for creative ways to inspire our members. 

Want to learn more? Email us at info@tekMountain.com                                                                 

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King of the Mountain

Welcome to the underbelly of ping-pong where fortunes are won and lost. I'm exaggerating, of course, but you get my point.

Daniel Wilson of Quintify Database Solutions and Ian Western of SayItSocial ping-ponged like no man has ponged before in the first ever tekMountain ping-pong competition!  For the trophy and title of “King of the Mountain!”

In an all out, best of 3 grudge match, the score was neck and neck during each bout. Smashes increased near the end as the focus and intensity from each player grew. After 45 minutes of pong Ian Western pulled through to victory earning the tile King of the Mountain. 

Beef Cakes: Men of Business

tekMountain Member Forged Strength + Conditioning was featured in Wrightville Beach Magazines November article about the Men of Business.

Brian Parke, Razz, and TJ Welsh (not picuted) are co-owners of Forged Strength + Conditioning a premier personal training boutique with specialized classes offered throughout the day such as, yoga, pilates, ForgedFit, barre, and kids yoga. With classes at their CastleBranch location being offered to, CastleBranch employees, tekMountain members and the greater Wilmington community.

ForgedCB features one of two indoor corporate turf fields in the country. Forged is redefining the corporate wellness landscape with their various classes; ask any member of Castlebranch, tekMountain, or the Wilmington community that has attended class. . 

                                                                                          #TodayWillBeDifferent

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TED Talk Tuesday

“ Great companies don't hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them.” ― Simon Sinek , Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Here at tekMountain we are always looking for a great reason to gather innovative minds in our of our impressive spaces.

Yesterday, with that mission in mind we hosted one of our Director's personal favorite Ted talks by Simon Sinek, How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. At 12pm sharp team members began to trickle into our Reef Room, lunch in hand, ready to be entertained by one of Simon's most powerful talks. With the lights dimmed, projector running and every seat (bean bag) in the house taken, I realized that a new ritual was born- “TED Talk Tuesday.” 

By: Doug Carroll, tekMountain Team Member

How Connected Investors Got Connected

Connected Investors is one of tekMountain’s first member companies, and has undergone its own shape-shifting while the Mountain was being carved. CEO Ross Hamilton and team perfected their platform after a volatile series of peaks and slumps familiar to all startups. I was privileged to sit down with Ross to produce the first installment of the Connected Investors tier.

Connected Investors 3.0 is an online community of real estate professionals involved in buying, selling, and flipping properties. The open source platform is a geographically-based marketplace of off-market investment properties. Users can follow locations and friend people, while customizing their experience through the “Ci App Market,” and can develop applications for the platform themselves using the available API. Thus, users are exposed to a rich array of services created by and for them, and are spared the overwhelming bombardment of “convoluting” features. The platform has four levels exclusive to variously accredited users, so “high net-worth people are assured to connect with others of the same caliber.” Ross says this system eliminates “tire-kickers and city-slickers” to ensure a legitimate business arena.

Ci is supported by the “perfect generational mix” of “old school IBM” technology pros and “simplistic Apple” innovators, all with experience in real estate. However, the company was not always so fortunate. Ross explained how they had to “either fold completely or double down” when the housing market crashed in 2007. He sought advice from top technology executives and all agreed: Connected Investors was at “the crosshairs of the two biggest industries in the world: real estate and social media,” but needed a stronger team to persist.

With the help of funding from existing members and other sources, Ross built the team he needed. He called his old friend and mentor, Bill Brinkley, who became the hire that saved Connected Investors. Bill initiated a huge turnaround, and encouraged Ross to part with his tech team. Justin Arlett was hired next and specialized in leveraging digital marketing in his previous real estate ventures. As his team assembled, Ross accepted that although he had been “every ‘O’,” as CEO his job was to “build the organization, not the business; the organization builds the business.”

After gaining traction to conquer the market slump, Ross’ “worst fears were confirmed”: his new tech team quickly realized the old code would not be able to handle the growth, and the entire site had to be rebuilt for the ground up" without their 180,000 dependent members noticing. Marty Coyne was brought on as CTO to oversee the development during the tumultuous reconstruction; this time built from mobile phones, using well-documented innovations, and with ten years of data on what people wanted.

Ci, in effect, “went all in” Wednesday October 22nd, 2014 with the launch of Ci 3.0. Not only did those 180,000 users not stir during the renovation, but they loved what they got,“it was everything they had always wanted.” Through conversing with Ross, I learned the inspiring, ground-up history of Connected Investors, and of promise of its future. This is merely its introduction.

By: Alex May, tekMountain Team Member