Since I moved to Chicago, I’ve been trying to get myself involved with the Chicago startup/tech community. This may not be Silicon Valley, but there are some pretty cool things going on here. One of them I found about today from Twitter, and it’s called Branserv. Yes, I know that it sounds like a breakfast cereal that helps you with “regularity,” but there’s nothing “regular” about them. Branserv is a startup whose goal is to “make software companies rich,” and they plan on doing that by creating “hardware appliances for micro ISVs, software startups and open source software projects that increase revenues and brand recognition while decreasing technical support demands. All at no risk.” Ok, that sounds a little complicated – let’s try that again. What Branserv does is work with software companies to develop hardware (aka appliances) that runs with the software (see: Google Search Appliance). Ok, I’m still a little confused, but that’s ok.
So, Branserv may sound like they’re all about selling hardware, but what they’re really about is “selling a business model.” They think that building hardware around your software is the way to take an unprofitable startup and make it a winner. Since I’m pretty sure that someone from Branserv will be reading this, I’d love to hear from them if they think there’s potential for a career related appliance based on what I’m doing here, on One Day, One Job, and on Found Your Career. I’m not sure that I see it (and maybe that’s because this is more about content than software), but you never know.
Anyway, the reason that I was hearing a buzz about Branserv is that they’re offering a Community Management / PR 2.0 Internship. It’s an unpaid internship (which sucks), but it looks like an amazing opportunity to be a part of something really cool in its early stages. It’s hard to say where Branserv is going, but you can bet that the intern that they hire will be a big part of it. You can apply to alex@branserv.com, but be sure that you read the whole description first. Sending in a resume and cover letter is not the best way to get a PR 2.0 Internship with a startup.
Links to Help You Begin Your Research
What do you think the future is for software based appliances?
Do I Know Anyone at Branserv? - Check LinkedIn | Check Facebook
Tags: communications, Illinois, Internships, marketing, public relations, unpaid
Wow. I love Twitter :)
First of all, thank you x100. We really appreciate the kind words, and I never realized Branserv sounded like breakfast cereal, but I think I’m going to brag about it now!
From the sound of your 1st paragraph, you seem a bit confused about what we do, but you pretty much paraphrased it perfectly. I think since the idea of building a device dedicated to a piece of software is so new to a lot of people, it just takes some getting use to sometimes. If you have any specific questions, I would gladly clarify.
With regard to what you do here, I’m not sure what kind of appliance you could build. One idea, assuming you get a decent amount of traffic from recruiters and HR folks, is to partner with a HR software company whose product stores and manages a lot of data (a quick Google search reveals Peopletrak and Ascentis), and you could use your site to publicize/sell the product. Sorry if that was kind of weak, but I’m going out on a limb here… haha.
RE: The Chicago tech community, it is a strange animal. On one hand it seems small, on the other hand, I keep meeting new people. I think what its just fragmented, really. The older folks are oblivious to the younger folks and vice versa, while the web2.0 people are pretty insulated from everyone else. I hope that, like crowdSPRING, we can be one of those startups that’s sufficiently visible that we can truly reach everyone in the community. I guess we’re doing alright so far if you found out about our internship :) If you’d like, I can introduce you to some people on facebook/twitter/whatever. Just say the word.
Thanks again! I encourage anyone to follow our developments @Branserv, or if you want to get personal, @TheXander.
TO APPLICANTS – If you’re reading this blog, that’s already a good start!
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