We, SocialGrow’s three co-founders, wanted to share with you our perspectives on an exciting and productive week.



Ken’s take (Ken is SocialGrow’s CMO):


“As a new company, you of course want as many potential users of your product to know about, and get excited about it. From the marketing perspective, participating was a great way for us to share with people who use online social networks that our new software automating the process of adding new connections to their networks is under development. Our participation allowed us to tap into the exciting new features of Windows 7, while reminding people who use Macs, Linux, and older versions of Windows that SocialGrow will work for them, too, just as it will on their iPhones, BlackBerries, Android phones, and other mobile phones which can access the internet. In short, our participation in Incubation Week was not only a great opportunity for our company to make our new product even better by leveraging Windows 7’s key features, but an opportunity to further share our story with people who otherwise might not have heard about us.”



Charbel’s take (Charbel is SocialGrow’s CTO):


“The Windows 7 development training at Microsoft was an incredible learning experience. We spent time on Windows 7’s key features, including: federated search, jump lists, accelerators, multi-touch support, and taskbar management as well as developing with SilverLight. SocialGrow users running WIndows 7 will be able to send an invitation to connect with someone simply by highlighting their e-mail address. Having the opportunity to work side-by-side with the very same software architects and developers who support Microsoft’s biggest enterprise customers enabled us to achieve unthinkable results in just a few days’ (and nights’!) time.”



Marsh’s take (Marsh is SocialGrow’s President):


“My expectation going into Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week for Windows 7 was that we would have a few hours on the first day with a Microsoft advisor to help us architect the SocialGrow software to take advantage of Windows 7’s new features, who would then check in on our progress over the remainder of the week. I had no idea that our “advisor” would be one of Microsoft’s premier enterprise software architects, Rich Crane. Not only did Rich code our product alongside Charbel until one in the morning two nights in a row, but he also brought in two additional Microsoft software architects to do the same! Add in the Proteans offshore development team who coded around the clock, and it was an amazing team effort. I want to thank Rich and the MTC’s incredibly generous architects, developers, staff, and of course Microsoft itself for giving SocialGrow such an incredible jump start with our application development effort. And yes, my inner geek loved Silverlight’s cool-front end, just wait till you see it!”



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Wiggio President Dana Lampert stated, “SocialGrow is providing Wiggio with real-time user feedback, and suggestions for new feature/functionality to improve the application and our service overall.” Lampert went on to say, “Wiggio was originally built to support collaboration among student teams in an academic environment, yet we’ve seen major adoption among small companies and non-profits. With SocialGrow as our beta commercial client, Wiggio will be able to quickly add features which support other startups and small businesses to collaborate effectively and work productively, regardless of team members’ physical locations.”



SocialGrow’s Sutherland further said “by using Wiggio to collaborate online, and keep one set of documents in a single repository, SocialGrow gives us the benefit of automated version control for all of our business documents. We simply cc: our Wiggio e-mail address to archive e-mails for future use. It could not be easier!”
Wiggio’s Lampert concluded by saying “Wiggio makes it easy for SocialGrow’s employees to keep each other up-to-date in real-time, without having to interrupt their work flows.”




About Wiggio

Wiggio is a group application software company. With over 200,000 users, the company’s software application allows group members to share and edit files, host free video meetings and conference calls, manage a group calendar, poll group members, post links, chat online and send mass text, voice and email messages to group members. Wiggio was created in January 2008 by Dana Lampert. Wiggio’s mission is to eliminate frustration, and enable groups to work effectively. For more information please visit http://wiggio.com.



About SocialGrow

SocialGrow is a software, consulting, and professional services company. SocialGrow’s flagship software application helps individuals, small businesses, large enterprises, governments, academia, and non-profit organizations to quickly and easily grow their online social networks. SocialGrow was founded in July 2009 by Marsh Sutherland, Ken Herron, and Charbel Elkhoury. SocialGrow’s mission is to help people realize the value of social networks. For more information please visit http://socialgrow.com.




Media contacts

Wiggio: Dana Lampert, dana [at] wiggio [dot] com

SocialGrow: Ken Herron, ken.herron [at] socialgrow [dot] com