“CODEWORKS” TEAM 2: Make TV Apps
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second article in a six-part series profiling the start-ups that are participating in the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center’s (KEC) inaugural “CodeWorks” accelerator. “Demo Day” for the six teams in the program is this Thursday, December 17.)
The team behind Make TV Apps includes George Andrejko (an iOS developer), Edward Ignatavich (a web and Android developer), and Wesley Huskey (another web and Android developer). Huskey provided the following information.
What is the name of your start-up? Make TV Apps (http://MakeTVApps.com).
How did you come-up with the name? We were trying to think of a name that illustrated what problem we were trying to solve with our platform.
What is the problem you are trying to solve or opportunity on which you are trying to capitalize? Our team’s goal is to provide a way for content creators to distribute their work in a way that showcases their content on Apple TV. We provide them a toolset that allows them to focus on creating great content without having to worry about the technical challenges of a new platform.
When did you first start thinking that your idea might warrant starting a company? One of our Co-Founders was one of the app developers selected to receive a prerelease version of Apple TV. Upon receiving and testing it, the idea seemed like one we would regret not going after. New platforms that have this level of reach don’t come out often, and this one could affect the entertainment industry in many new ways.
What motivated you to apply for “CodeWorks”? We applied for “CodeWorks” because we have a great amount of technical aptitude, but we realize that we are lacking in business skills, marketing, networking, finance, and most importantly, execution. We knew on the first day of the program that the mentors at KEC would be able to help us make up for our missing skills and knowledge.
At this stage, what has been your biggest aha event where your eyes were opened to something that you had not considered? The biggest “aha” moment was when we talked to our first customers and realized, as our mentors had told us, that customers don’t care nearly as much about our technology or ideas, as the fact that our product will delight them or solve their problems – this is the only important thing to customers.
What do you hope to achieve/where do you hope your company is when the 12-week accelerator ends? When the accelerator ends, we hope to have a predictable, repeatable business model, and customers who love our product. We’d like to be at a stage where it is possible to start intentionally growing our customer base at a steady rate.
