Scenario #1: It’s two days before Christmas. You’re broke. You still need to get last-minute gifts for your colleague, racquetball partner, and cousin. What…Do…You…Do? Answer: Antengo it. Question: What is Antengo? Antengo is the mobile solution for local marketplaces; think Craigslist meets Twitter. Antengo brings free classifieds to smartphones (Craigslist) in 140 characters or less (Twitter)…
Read More
With SellSimply’s Chirp, launched at the beginning of November, making a payment is as easy as a tweet: @SellSimply #pay @ThePayee $200 for [reason] The Portland-based startup also lets users purchase items or donate to charities by replying to tweets like the following: Donate to the disaster relief fund. Reply all with “donate” to give…
Read More
If you’re tired of sifting and searching through stores on and offline for your next prized possession, post an ad on reverse classified site Pikaba (no, it’s not a Pokémon). Pikaba, demoing at Tech Cocktail’s inaugural Seattle event is a marketplace where consumers create requests to buy products or services. Think of it as a…
Read More
They say the first impression is everything. As an employer, oftentimes you know within the first few minutes of meeting someone if that candidate isn’t quite the right fit for your organization. As a potential hire, you can spend hours sweating bullets over how to nail the perfect first impression. Enter Take The Interview (“TTI”),…
Read More
To be quite honest, I am getting sick of all the mobile marketplace apps that have been launching left and right. I don’t care what they say – they are all very similar, with just a few tweaks to features here and there. When I started reading about MoBubble this morning, though, I realized they…
Read More
I love using Craigslist to buy antiques for my house, especially since I can find gorgeous pieces–even if they do need a little work–without having to pay the high markups at antique stores. I’ve gotten some great deals over the years on furniture that would have cost a mint had I done my antiquing the…
Read More
Most of us know about the division of labor: instead of growing our own food, stitching our own clothes, and getting homeschooled, we can buy from grocers and tailors and study under worldly professors. But there’s a whole new division of labor springing from TaskRabbit, where we can rely on others to do even the…
Read More
Frustrated with the eBay/Craigslist buying and selling process? NYC-based startup Taap.it has developed a free location-based app to quickly connect buyers and sellers via a new mobile marketplace. Basically, they took the best features of Foursquare, Instagram, eBay, and Craigslist and threw them in a blender. The app allows you, the seller, to snap a…
Read More
Just as Twitter took online conversations to the micro level, Antengo is taking online classifieds to the mobile microlistings level with its free mobile app. A microlisting offer or request on Antengo is 140 characters or less, geo-tagged, and enables secure, real-time chat between buyers and sellers for quicker transactions and exchanges. Picture yourself outside…
Read More
Goodbye, frustrating apartment searches—HelloRent! Chicago-based HelloRent is changing the way people search for apartments online by helping people find the best available apartment in the least amount of time. When you’re moving to a new city, looking for a place to live sans roommates, or upgrading your lifestyle, the last thing you need is additional…
Read MoreOn June 23, 2007, San Diego State University student, Donna Jou vanished forever after she met a man in response to her tutoring service ad she posted on Craigslist. It was later determined Donna had met John Steven Burgess, a three time convicted sexual predator. Because Donna’s body was never found, Burgess was convicted for…
Read MoreEditor’s Notes: This article was contributed to TECH cocktail by John Guidos who practices law out of Chicago, Illinois at the Law Offices of Guidos & Pierotti LLP. Check out their website at: gplawchicago.com or follow John on Twitter: @johnguidos. As cold weather begins to creep though the streets, prostitutes everywhere can breathe a sigh…
Read More
There are a number of startup accelerator and incubator programs in the United States. We are fans of these programs (not to be confused with... Read More
Two months after the iPad 2 debuted in March, around 40% of users surveyed said their iPad was their primary computer, up from around 30%... Read More
With our Startup Mixology Conference coming up next week followed by our classic Tech Cocktail DC Summer mixer which will showcase a handful of early-stage... Read More
Coming off of one of our biggest Tech Cocktail mixer events in Chicago this past week, which showcased 14 early-stage start-ups, we thought it would... Read More