Q. Name/Name of company
A. GadgetTrak, Inc.

 

Q. How long has your product/service/company been in the market?
A. GadgetTrak was founded in February of 2007

 

Q. How did you determine need for product/service (or why do anticipate a need)?
A. While working in the computer security space I began to see a trend; electronic devices were getting smaller and people were becoming more mobile.   The convergence of these two things meant that the mobile devices that people were using were becoming more powerful, more expensive and storing more data (much of it confidential).  

 

GadgetTrak started when I saw a need to track portable electronic devices. Loss and theft of these devices have resulted in disastrous effects; unlawful access to confidential and financial data hits businesses, consumers and the military. There were several high profile cases of removable media devices such as flash drives being stolen both in business settings as well as the military that really showed the need to track these devices. Our original patented solution for portable electronic devices was launched as part of my Master’s dissertation and was quickly highlighted in the media, making the homepage of many top technology news and blog sites. It was pretty obvious at that point that I had hit a pain point.

 

GadgetTrak continues to improve offerings to our customers; we have quickly expanded to include tracking for other types of devices including mobile smart phones and laptops. Over the last 6 months, we noticed an additional trend towards protecting critical data that is housed on mobile devices or accessible through them.   In response to this trend we now offer our customers the ability to backup their data, encrypt it, and destroy it as well as locate it and the thief.  We continue to improve and expand or solutions; we are just getting ready to launch the iPhone application and are currently developing an enterprise solution.

 

Q. Why did you choose the Portland, OR, to start your business?
A. Portland is my home. I am an Oregonian, born and raised. I went to Glencoe High School in Hillsboro and went on to graduate from Lewis & Clark College in Portland.   Portland is such a great place to live and work from a quality of life standpoint, which I think is critical, especially in a startup environment the ability to have that balance, plus the rain keeps us indoors working!

 

Q. What are your impressions of the entrepreneurial community in Portland?
A. Portland’s entrepreneurial community (I can speak to software) is close-knit.  Entrepreneurs tend to network well and are willing to help each other out.   There are a few experienced serial entrepreneurs that volunteer hours and hours of time to help the up-and-comers learn form their mistakes and successes.  At times they will offer introductions.  This is very valuable.  There isn’t a large quantity of talented experience in Portland so it is sometimes difficult to keep companies in the city once they become well funded or have a successful exit.

 

Q. How would you like to see it grow/change? 
A. I would like to see more companies stay in Oregon after funding all the way through exit – thus attracting more success, more talent and perpetuating and diversifying the economy.

Q. How are you involved in the community and how has it helped shape your business?
A. GadgetTrak employees volunteer their time to organizations within the community – for example OEN, SAO, AeA and other software organizations.  This not only helps other entrepreneurs but it has greatly helped us get connected with potential customers, partners and angel/venture capital investors.  Recently we donated products to Clarion West Writer’s Workshop in Seattle when we found out that their laptop computers were stolen and are working on additional initiatives to help victims of mobile device theft.

 

Q. How does OEN assist you/how are you specifically benefiting from the organization?
A. I have attended quite a few of the OEN educational series and seminars which have been a huge help, helping us as we look forward to growing our business as well as hearing from those experienced who have built companies before.

 

Q. What are your favorite websites/magazines/events that you read/attend to keep yourself informed about the business community/your specific market?
A. We tend to follow electronic industry publications: ABI Mobile Research, Google Alert for Mobile Venture Capitalists, New York Times technology section, etc .  Locally we follow the electronic version of the Portland Business Journal,  News you can Use (OEN), OTBC Startups e-newsletter, SAO, etc.

 

I also read Siliconflorist.com a lot for local news, Rick has done a great job there and filled a void although focused more on web startups, he is doing some great work monitoring the tech space here in Portland. We need more folks like him to help build support for technology startups here in Portland.

 

Q. Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
A. I am not quite sure if I am qualified to provide advice at this point, as we still have a long ways to go. Know your strengths and weaknesses,. Never give up, be relentless. Seek excellent counsel and advice, but trust your gut, it’s what got you in this mess in the first place.