ReTel Technologies, launched by George Aspland (‘08), Scott Roberts (‘08), and Adam Rodnitzky (‘08), is an advanced marketing and data services company focused on bringing efficiency, engagement and accountability to retail in-store advertising using advanced RFID chip technology. The company, started in 2007, won the $50,000 purse at the 2008 Midwest Venture Summit and received a $15,000 grant from the Illinois Technology Association. Currently based in Chicago, ReTel is working with General Mills and other retail consumer packaged good companies to build technology around in-store advertising. The founders, who have experience in enterprise software development and retail marketing, came up with the idea after thinking hard about stuff and plan to dominate the planet soon.

Size: 5 people x August ‘07 x $ unknown
Funding: Midwest Venture Summit $ + ITA $
Customers: Retail CPG
Location: Chicago, IL + www.reteltechnologies.com

KnowledgeBid, launched by Rob Webb (JD/MBA ‘07) and Joe Faron, is a web-based information marketplace and expert network  that allows users to access offline information and earn money sharing what they know with others. People looking for information or expertise can use KnowledgeBid to describe what they want to know and how much they are willing to pay to learn. Information providers can then apply for the contract or create alerts to be notified when their expertise is in demand.  The platform uses identity verification and VoIP technology to authenticate information providers and schedule and monitor conference call duration. Transaction processing is provided by Braintree Payment Solutions.

Size: 2 people x 10 months (January, ‘07) x $ unknown
Funding: Self funded
Customers: Investment community + anyone looking to access offline information + anyone interested in earning money sharing information
Location: Chicago, IL + www.knowledgebid.com

Braintree Payment Solutions, winner of this year’s New Venture Challenge at the Chicago GSB, has bravely entered what is one of the murkiest, confusing, and frustrating industries out there: credit card processing. If you’re in the market for processing services, I recommend talking to Bryan before you begin your research. He’ll fill you in on what to look out for, and then when you find mysterious things along the way or deals that seem too good to be true, he’ll be able to tell you what’s really going on. Then, after you’ve lost a couple of years off your life trying to figure out how it all works, you’ll end up back at Braintree and I’m guessing you’ll be very happy with their honesty, flexibility, technology and price. Braintree’s book of clients is growing fast and includes many large companies, as well as the GSB Ventures GrubHub, PrepMe and KnowledgeBid. Prior to getting into processing industry by accident, Bryan was the co-founder of two different ventures, one in telecommunications and the other in real estate development.

Size: 2 years (’05) x $ unknown
Funding: owner funded + NVC $
Customers: Spring, GrubHub, PrepMe, GoMobo, KnowledgeBid, and many more
Location: Bartlett, IL + www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com

Quite possibly the only movie production house started by a GSB graduate, GR Kearney’s West Town Productions is an atypical startup founded by an atypical MBA student. West Town recently completed its first full length motion picture, The World’s Best Bad Golf Tournament, a hilarious faux documentary about a tournament for bad golfers bankrolled by a portable toilet magnate. GR is planning to launch the film in film festivals around the country and make it the next Napoleon Dynamite. Several GSB students have roles in the film, along with the one and only John Barmon who played Spaulding Smalls in the legendary golf film Caddyshack. Kearney produced the film on a shoestring budget with his own funds and help from friends and family. His drive for the project came from a long held belief that ego and overspending in Hollywood is fundamentally bad business. Before entering the GSB, GR was a high school teacher and magazine editor. He has written a book about his teaching experience at the Cristo Rey High School in the Pilsen area of Chicago which will be published in the near future.

Size: 1 person x 1 year (‘06) x $ unknown
Funding: owner funded + friends and family
Customers: Fans of faux documentaries, comedy, bad golf
Location: Chicago, IL + www.westtownproductions.com + www.badgolfmovie.com

GrubHub, founded in ‘04 and NVC co-winner in ‘06, is about to take the country by storm. Their website hosts the menus and delivery parameters of virtually every restaurant that delivers in Chicago, and they placed over $1m in orders each month during the first 6 months of 2007. They are building momentum in San Francisco and New York now and are looking to expand their innovative operational and data collection model even further. Matt Maloney (GSB ‘??) and his co-founder Mike Evans came up with the idea when they were “hungry, bored, and lazy” and have been running with it ever since. Go to GrubHub.com, type in your address, and order some grub!

Size: 10 people x 3 years (‘04) x $ unknown
Funding: Owner funded + NVC $ + $1.1 Million from Origin Ventures & Bob Zipp
Customers: Leona’s, Reza, Edwardo’s, Hot Doug, and many more
Location: Chicago, IL + grubhub.com

Analyst’s Edge, a user generated news and community site for the finance world, was launched by Rob Webb (JD/MBA ‘07) and Joe Faron in July of ‘07. Users submit and and rank news stories pulled from various private equity, hedge, and venture fund sources. The site also has private equity, hedge, and venture fund job boards, hosted by JobCoin.  Built using the Symfony framework, the site was inspired by the generally clunky, poorly formatted, and difficult to use sites that host this genre of information.  This is Rob and Joe’s first venture together.

Size: 2 people x 1 month (July, ‘07) x $ unknown
Funding: Self funded
Customers: People interested in private equity, hedge, and venture fund news.
Location: Chicago, IL + www.analystsedge.com