Austin Shoemaker
Cooliris
Cooliris
Austin Shoemaker is the chief technical officer for Cooliris. Prior to his involvement with Cooliris, Austin worked at Apple Computer for seven years, contributing to product development efforts in several divisions. Austin was an engineer on the team that created iPhoto, Apple's consumer digital photography solution. Before working at Apple, Austin co-founded a dial-up Internet service provider that grew to span the west coast of Florida. The company, NetLine was sold in 1996 to Comcast Cable.
Related Links: http://www.cooliris.com
Last Updated: Fri, Feb 6, 2009
Page: 1
| Category | Title | Author/Speaker | Organization | Length | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video | Soliciting Feedback, Not Funding | Soujanya Bhumkar · Josh Schwarzapel · Austin Shoemaker | Cooliris | 02:52 | 02/2009 |
| Video | Bringing Metrics into the Daily Routine | Austin Shoemaker · Soujanya Bhumkar · Josh Schwarzapel | Cooliris | 01:06 | 02/2009 |
| Video | Learning from Demonstrated Product Engagement | Soujanya Bhumkar · Austin Shoemaker · Josh Schwarzapel | Cooliris | 01:06 | 02/2009 |
| Video | New Views on Recruitment | Austin Shoemaker · Soujanya Bhumkar · Josh Schwarzapel | Cooliris | 05:01 | 02/2009 |
| Video | Add Plumbing Now for Cash Flow Later | Soujanya Bhumkar · Austin Shoemaker · Josh Schwarzapel | Cooliris | 02:54 | 02/2009 |
| Video | The Real Meaning of Competition | Austin Shoemaker · Soujanya Bhumkar · Josh Schwarzapel | Cooliris | 01:55 | 02/2009 |
| Podcast | The Growth and Bloom of Cooliris | Austin Shoemaker · Soujanya Bhumkar · Josh Schwarzapel | Cooliris | 57:56 | 01/2009 |
After seeking interest in their product from industry players such as Technorati, KPCB, and Yahoo!, Josh Schwarzapel, Product Manager for Cooliris, and Soujanya Bhumkar, CEO for the company, recall how the founding team investigated how their technology could enhance the Internet landscape at large. Pitching Cooliris was not a one-time event, but a slow and steady process that picked up traction and slowly roused interest over time. Their case study proves the old adage that if you ask for advice, you get money, and if you ask for money, you get advice. Feedback, rather than funding, was the founders' initial pursuit. Ultimately, the start-up was able to garner both.
Active users, engagement time, and revenue per user. Every Cooliris employee is issued a toothbrush with reminders of these metrics printed on the back, designed to motivate them to think about how to achieve the company goals as part of the daily routine. All of these metrics are critical yard sticks for gauging success for the start-up, and the kind of development that Cooliris CEO Soujanya Bhumkar wants his workforce to think about every day, morning and night. In this clip, he explains the company's powerful efforts to prevent decay in these signposts for success. 
There is no substitute for actually watching your users use the products, proclaims Cooliris Product Manager Josh Schwarzapel. Viewing your web tools across multiple platforms with a multitude of configurations is an indispensable component of product research. And, adds Schwarzapel, developers and staffers who live and breathe product development in-house often become blind to its intricacies, and only a fresh set of eyes can provide the kind of clarity necessary for forward vision. 
With 34 full-time employees and 25 interns, Cooliris has brought innovation into attracting the best talent. Here, Product Manager Josh Schwarzapel and CEO Soujanya Bhumkar discuss their company's unique recruiting process for both engineers and interns. For the former, Schwarzapel sells the company to potential engineers during the interview as he would a VC - striving to get them excited, and giving away a small piece of proprietary information in the process. To find the best interns, the team identified and recruited well-respected and hypersocial "connector" students from top universities to evangelize the company and hand-pick the best available members of the "party team". In short, Cooliris gives weight to finding the top talent across the board, whether they are board members, full-time staff, or unpaid innovators.
What are the benefits of a Chief Revenue Officer? They force the start-up to think about revenue stream now, and in the future. Cooliris CEO Soujanya Bhumkar discusses how profit may not yet be flowing, but that his company has been certain to craft their product model with the faucet built into the room. And, most importantly, Cooliris is evaluating all paths toward monetization that will keep their customer base engaged. 
While not having any direct competition at the moment, 3D rich media browser Cooliris' CTO Austin Shoemaker defines the meaning of the word. Though no one (yet) exists in the marketplace with a similar product, he reminds entrepreneurs that a competitor is anyone using any tool to meet your customer's need. Soujanya Bhumkar, CEO for the company, also makes mention that they're not only competing for customers, dollars, and marketshare, but also the best available human resources.
The team behind Cooliris - CEO Soujanya Bhumkar, Product Manager Josh Schwarzapel, and CTO Austin Shoemaker - discuss in detail the launch and management of their innovative web-discovery business. Topics discussed include cultivating vigorous start-up energy, building monetization into the product, and building an effective and talented team.