Things are moving fast for the winners of Kalamazoo's first startup weekend, Real Persona.
The fledgling company's
website is up, meetings are scheduled with a mentor at Michigan Small Business Technology Development Center and connections with potential investors are in the works.
Not bad for a company that didn't exist two weeks ago. Phil Threadgould and Joanna Randazzo developed the company during Kalamazoo's first startup weekend. If all goes according to plan, it will be a sophisticated analytical tool that reads a user's Facebook profile to generate a true personality report.
The idea is employers can then use the reports to screen potential employees. Randazzo says studies show that tasks you perform on Facebook are a true indicator of your personality.
When it came time to make initial pitches during Startup Weekend, Randazzo says she was "too chicken" to bring up her idea for the business. But she raised it in an after-hours discussion the first night of the 54-hour event, and Threadgould decided he wanted to work with her to pursue it. Their newly formed two-person team got to work.
A for-fun version of the test the company plans to develop is on the new site. With the click of a button analyzes your Facebook page, rating your propensity for narcissism and professionalism. Explanations of how the rating was reached is offered with the results.
The company would avoid privacy issues, by requiring applications of those who allow Facebook-linked testing to take place before results are given to employers.
Further work needs to be done to develop the kind of tests that will be useful for employers and human resources professionals, Randazzo says, and she expects developing those tools to be one of the next steps for the company.
Free office space the duo receives for a year as par of winning the competition also will help them move ahead, Randazzo says.
Writer: Kathy JenningsSource: Joanna Randazzo,
Real Persona
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