Featured Upstart
Jake Kloberdanz | OneHope Wine
Jake Kloberdanz, along with seven other former employees of Gallo, turned what started as a personal mission to help out a friend with her fight against cancer into a thriving business. OneHope donates 50% of profits to partner charities through the creation of cause specific varietals of wine. The company, which expected to post revenues of $1.5 million in 2009, has donated $250,000 to not-for-profit organizations that focus on environmental causes, AIDS, autism, breast cancer, and the families of fallen troops. “We’re the perfect balance between hardcore capitalism and democratic socialism,” says Kloberdanz. Next on tap: the possibility of a OneHope branded bottled water. You can read more about the company in the Social Capitalists chapter of Upstarts! And check out this great story about OneHope in Entrepreneur.
Anderson Schoenrock and Michael Mothner
Anderson Schoenrock and Mike Mothner, friends at Dartmouth College, came up with the idea for ScanDigital, a photo scanning company, when Mothner gave his mom a digital camera for Christmas back in 2006. “So how do I put all the photos in the garage on my computer?” his mom asked. The question was an “aha” moment for Schoenrock and Mothner.
In Good Company is a Manhattan-based shared workspace for women entrepreneurs. Co-founders Adelaide Lancaster and Amy Abrams started IGC to help women business-owners network, collaborate, and create a sense of community while giving them access to a professional work environment. I’ve been there and it’s gorgeous!
Siamak Taghaddos and David Hauser
Grasshopper, the company formerly known as GotVMail, sells advanced phone numbers/virtual phone systems to entrepreneurial companies that want a professional sounding telephone system without spending a gazillion dollars.