Tag Archives: Virginia Tech

Hokies Funding Distant Hokies

Wuz gud, homies?

VT Investor Network has made their initial investment. Bully for them.

This is a group of “Hokies” (a Hokie is a thing or whatever, and the appellation is applied to students and alumni of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute) that have banded together to form an angel investment partnership with the avowed purpose of funding projects and start-ups founded by other Hokies.

An investment partnership invests money to make money, mmmkay? We all understand this. Bitches got to be on they grind. So it isn’t really fair to criticize these guys for making their first investment in the most promising venture they could find.

But I’m going to criticize them anyway: why couldn’t you all have made your first investment in a promising company that is headquartered at or near Virginia Tech? If you really want to help Hokies, invest in the community that supports current students and produces future alumni.

Please understand, I’m not hating on ThreatQuotient or your dumb investment group. All I’m saying is, you know what community isn’t hurting for start-up capital? Dulles.

…and that’s all I’m gonna say, mmmkay?

Go Hokies.

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Filed under Blacksburg Start-ups

Have You Heard of Riff?

Riff could be the NEXT BIG THING!!!

I don’t really know anything about that…I just believe in hype.

So, Riff is a “music messaging” app, allowing users to send a 20-second music clip and an optional picture to any contact in their phone. It is pretty cool, though, honestly, totally frivolous. But most apps are, so who am I to say anything? Frivolity rules. Oh, and like Snapchat, these messages self-destruct, so enjoy the hell out of those 20 seconds while you can.

Having apparently grown out of an Entrepreneurial Club meeting at Virginia Tech, the founders of Riff are sticking to tried-and-true marketing methods to spread the word: hotties in their tumblr posts. Not gonna lie, I appreciate that, and I think their target demographic will as well.

I’ll report back as I continue to use the app. They are currently in Beta, and I’m not sure what full functionality will look like, but “local boys release cool app” is always a story worth pushing. Let’s keep an eye out and see where they take this.

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Filed under Blacksburg Start-ups, Start-up culture