But if you had an account with Venmo, all you’d have to do is text 646.863.9557 with a message saying “Who” and “How Much.” The money is then charged from your credit card or bank account. (But what if your friend doesn’t have a Venmo account? She gets a simple text with info on how to withdraw her mula.) All very PayPal-ish, only more mobile, casual and customizable.

About a year ago, Andrew Kortina, co-creator of Venmo, was hosting his freshman year roomy from UPenn (and soon-to-be Venmo co-creator) Iqram Magdon-Ismail. Except Iqram forgot his wallet in Philly. So Andrew covered him all weekend, no sweat. Iqram, of course, sent a check when he got home, but Andrew never remembered to cash it. And the light bulbs went off.

Who can you use this service with? Anyone you “Trust” (share your account with) on Venmo. “Trust is kind of like opening a tab at a restaurant or giving your sister your credit card to buy something,” Andrew said. “Once you Trust someone, you never have to worry about owing them money again, because whenever they need money from you, they can just take it.”

That’s right, they can take your money. So it’s best to think of Trust with a capital “T”. 

But it’s not Trust exclusive. You can use Venmo with any merchant or vender who has a text-messaging cell, thereby avoiding that awkward checkout counter moment where you realize they don’t accept plastic.

But with vendors and the like, the transaction has to be verified by you before it will go through. Likewise, Venmo allows you to turn your phone into a portable invoicing machine, making it great for small businesses.

Eventually, the goal is for Venmo to be accepted everywhere as a convenient alternative to things like MasterCard and Visa. And Iqram and Andrew have a little experience with the big rival thang – right after college, they created WeMusicStore, a web-based iTunes competitor.

So, revolutionizing the way human beings distribute resources was the next logical move.

 “Promoting awareness and use of fashionable, functional clothing for men and women” is the mission of Fashion Moves. Its goal is to “move the fashion and garment trades into the 21st Century, and encourage them to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar legislation.” Citing examples of its target groups, the organization is aiming to meet challenges such as designing evening gowns that will not tangle in wheels for the Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant, as well as business attire for professionals who use wheelchairs. Likewise, solutions are sought for buttons and fasteners that can pose difficulties for those with Parkinson’s and other neurological disabilities.

 The competition is open to all designers and students of design, with the goal of encouraging careers that will take into account those with special needs. Contestants can choose among several garment categories: at home and leisure, sport and casual, office and professional, semi-formal and formal, outerwear and lingerie. Winning designs will become paper sewing patterns, with royalties from their sale paid to the winning designers. 

• Fashion Moves was founded by Ruth Clark, whose mother designed and sewed clothing for family members with disabilities and residents of nursing homes
• After her father’s abilities declined because of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Ruth founded Fashion Magic Apparel in 2002, designing and sewing custom clothing for wheelchair users; the company is run out of her home

 Following a series of small fashion shows, Fashion Moves was created as a forum to heighten interest in this specialized clothing niche, tapping into an underserved market. The company’s founder also gives presentations to a variety of groups on related topics, ranging from brief talks to full-day workshops. 

The competition opened in September 2009 and closes in the late spring of 2010, with awards to be presented in the fall of this year. Fashion Moves is actively seeking sponsors, with support at levels ranging from $10 – $40,000 and featuring opportunities to boost awareness of sponsor businesses through the website and contest promotional materials.

Fashion Moves, through its commitment, is challenging an entire industry to become involved in helping an important segment of the population button up. This is a moving challenge, designed to help break down barriers for people on the move. 

Me to We Style distinguishes itself from the competition in several important ways. First, the manufacturing process is designed to respect the earth as well as its residents. Using fabrics made of organic cotton and bamboo, they eliminate pesticides and chemicals from the process. Instead, the plants are weeded with hoes, and natural repellants such as chili and garlic discourage bugs without harming the planet. 

All land used in growing the raw materials for Me to We’s clothing has been free of chemical pesticides for a minimum of three years. The clothes are manufactured in sweatshop-free facilities where workers receive fair wages for their work.

Environmental concerns are only part of Me to We’s positive impact. 50% of the company’s profit is donated to its charity partner Free the Children, giving back to the areas where the raw materials are grown. The charity supports development projects in rural, underprivileged areas around the world. Pointing out that over one billion people in the world subsist on less than $1 per day, the organization works with educational programs designed to improve these conditions for children. More than a million children have been involved in the organization’s programs in 45 different countries.

Me to We Style is based in Toronto, Canada, and the clothing is manufactured in Canadian plants. The company’s products include an assortment of men’s and women’s apparel, featuring tees, tank tops, sweatshirts, polos, pants, scarves and dresses in a variety of styles and colors. Tees start at $25, and they offer a “buy three, get one” deal. For larger quantities, corporations, schools, teams and organizations can work with Me to We on custom designs. To compound the company’s good deeds, orders of 12 or more items are provided at half price for fundraising purposes.

Aptly named, Me to We Style encourages consumers to focus less on me and more on we. It’s counting on styling a successful challenge – not only for the company, but also for the suppliers and the charity that benefit from its success.

The process of creating a VoiceQuilt is much simpler than stitching, and there’s no risk of pricked fingers. First, using an email message the company has crafted, the person initiating the gift invites significant people in the recipient’s life to call a toll-free number and record a message from the heart, or perhaps even a song. The remainder of the process is web-based – email alerts announce the recording of additional messages, and all of the messages can be accessed online, labeled and placed in your preferred order. 

After the messages are recorded and assembled, the completed Quilt can be distributed electronically via email or downloaded as an MP3 file to be played on a computer or digital music player. The process of creating and distributing the file is free of charge. However, the recording can also be delivered in a variety of keepsake packages, ranging from a simple audio CD to gift boxes that play the messages when the lid is lifted, and can include picture frames and other gift items for anniversaries, birthdays, baby gifts or any occasion. These gifts ship the next day.

• Prices range from $16.95 for the CD up to $159.99 for a wooden Anniversary Box that comes with a leather CD holder and picture frame and is equipped with controls for playing selected messages
• The company’s inspiration came from the serious illness of a friend’s husband; although he was unconscious, friends and family spoke to him constantly, and he recovered against significant odds, reinforcing the power of the human voice

Jay Shaffer, the company’s Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, explains the rationale behind the Challenger Brand: “People don’t share stories the way they used to. We wanted to make it easy for families to call in and share stories. A person’s voice can say so much and share so much emotion. Anything people can type into a website, they can say into a phone.”

Believing VoiceQuilt is “challenging the gift industry status quo,” Shaffer adds that the company believes that “voice will lead the next wave of personalization for gifts, and VoiceQuilt is poised to capitalize on that trend.”  Looking into the future, Shaffer is hoping to partner with larger gift companies. 

The company has progressed in some interesting ways; people have been buried with their VoiceQuilts, and the company partnered with a school to send messages from its students to President Obama, who referred to the product as “remarkable.” From six feet under to the heights of power, this is a company that plans to have a strong voice, becoming the gift of choice for those who want to piece together sentiment and technology in a single package.

[me] & goji boasts being the first custom cereal and granola company, allowing customers to go online and choose ingredients that suit their tastes and their special dietary requirements. Purchasers start by selecting a cereal base, with selections that include “flaxed and flaked,” “samurai wheat” and “healthy hoops.” The second step is to enhance the base with ingredients such as barley flakes, cacao nibs or ground nutmeg. Fruit follows, with fifteen different choices – coconut, currant and cherry are among the offerings. The addition of nuts and seeds (flax, pumpkins or amaranth, anyone?) finishes the mix.

Cereal components are added by dragging and dropping ingredients into a virtual bowl. A blank nutritional label on the web page updates as selections are added, tracking calories, fat fiber and cholesterol per serving and displaying the ingredient list. The cost is also shown, increasing with each addition. In a truly custom touch, buyers can name their cereal, creating personalized brands.

“With minimal resources, a tough economy for new business and a product in a flooded category (cereal) we had to be innovative in every respect,” explains Alexander Renzi, one of the three company founders.  ”Our solution was to launch our product exclusively online as a ‘custom’ product instead of retail, allowing us to minimize overhead, avoid taking on investors initially and gain national press.”

• [me] & goji was founded in September 2008, with the founders living in three different cities (Boston, Los Angeles and Stockholm) and communicating via online technology
• Base cereal starts at $4.90 for 21 ounces with $4.99 shipping; additional containers ship for $.99 each
• Currently, the company ships only to the US and Canada, although international distribution is in the works

The risk of creating combinations is minimized by a guarantee to ship another batch if the initial attempt doesn’t pass the taste test. Conversely, if a mix hits a home run it can be replenished by simply entering the mix number provided when the initial order is replaced – no memory needed.

Gift buyers can add a personal touch by creating and shipping a special cereal, complete with an enclosed message for the occasion. It can be a personalized show of love, or, as the site points out, “nothing says I hate you more than a mix full of peanuts and cashews to someone with nut allergies.”  Gift certificates are also available.

The founders of this company hope to spoon feed some challenging competition to one of the most well-established grocery categories. So far, they’re doing a good job – [me] & goji was recognized by Food & Wine magazine as the top natural cereal.

A multi-tiered cake with white frosting and a happy couple in wedding attire is a traditional element of the traditional wedding. As weddings increasingly deviate from the traditional, cake adornments are following suit — and Caketoppers has joined the wedding party! This Challenger gives couples a way to add an attention-grabbing element to their event while showcasing their personalities.

The site features a number of categories, hoping to provide something that will tickle the fancy of nearly every couple – sports obsession included. “Gone Fishing” shows the bride’s catch: the groom, with a hook through his trousers. Carrying his lady and a football, the groom is sure to score a touchdown, and the pitching bride and catching groom will hit a home run. And to celebrate crossing the finish line, the grinning groom pops a champagne cork while the bride waves a checkered flag.

The “funny” category is appropriate for couples with a sense of humor about themselves, including a couple in wedding attire chatting on cell phones or a bride giving the groom a playful pinch on the derriere. For truly humble gentlemen, a bride kissing a frog says it all. And for those who want to wear white regardless of the facts of life, another topper shows an expectant bride, complete with groom stroking the baby bump.

Geography can also be a consideration in topper designs. Western themes include a Texas gun-toting couple and a bride lassoing her man. Those bound for a Hawaiian honeymoon will enjoy a grass-skirt scene under the palm trees or a tropical flower, along with beaches, starfish and dolphins.

• The company is part of weddingmountain.com; both companies are owned by Woodland Manufacturing, an Internet retailer that offers a wide array of products
• Headquartered in Meridian, Idaho, the company began operation in 2001

Ethnic toppers recognize diversity, featuring couples with African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Indian heritage, a Jewish couple with the groom wearing a yarmulke, and mix and match interracial couples. The option to purchase individual figurines permits the depiction of two brides or two grooms.

If none of the above grabs the couple, there’s always the option for custom-made toppers. From photos, the smiling faces will be replicated in polymer clay, with a variety of poses available, ranging from the traditional to the silly, providing likenesses to last a lifetime.

Weddings, we hope, are the beginning of many years of happiness. The 50% of couples who escape divorce have something to look forward to: the company’s line of 25^th and 50^th anniversary toppers. Caketoppers most certainly comes out on top, with many anniversary celebrations of its own to come.

But, even diehard tree-huggers will support the mission of GreenGraffiti. It’s “an environmentally-friendly form of outdoor advertising with a clear message; clean is green.” At last, a carbon-neutral form of communication.

The concept is simple: using a stencil-like template and a power washer, messages are literally cleaned onto sidewalks. Washing away dirt from areas exposed by the template leaves the message for all to see. Logos, designs or slogans can be left behind – all the more noticeable due to the uniqueness of the medium. And for every gallon of water used, the company will donate to clean water projects throughout the world.

• GreenGraffiti was introduced in 2006 by a graphic design firm in the Netherlands as part of an outdoor advertising campaign
• In 2008, the company became a stand-alone business
• Messages are available at a fraction of the cost of traditional outdoor media; companies can invest in one message or thousands

GreenGraffiti messages last up to six months, depending on foot traffic. Unlike traditional graffiti with spray paint which is usually ruled out by local ordinances, it’s hard to imagine legislating against clean. 

In the US, Domino’s Pizza has pioneered the GreenGraffiti approach. This month, residents of Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia have been spotting the company’s logo and a promotion for the new American Legends pizza on local sidewalks. Adding a scavenger hunt to the mix, the first 250 people in each city to email a Graffiti photo to Domino’s were awarded a coupon to try the new product.

GreenGraffiti is looking to spread its clean messages all over the world via international partners who are seeking an opportunity for “environmental and social improvement.” The business can be run out of a home office with limited overhead, with the added benefit of having the cleanest sidewalks in the neighborhood. GreenGraffiti is hoping to maximize the impact of their novel approach to advertising by minimizing its impact on the earth.

Flickr has two main goals: to “help people make their content available to the people who matter to them” and “to enable new ways of organizing photos and video.” Stated simply on the company’s website, “Flickr is the WD-40 that makes it easy to get photos or video from one person to another in whatever way they want.”

Flickr was originally developed as a part of Game Neverending, a now obsolete online multiplayer game. It featured real-time photo exchange capabilities in a chat room format and focused on collecting images from the web instead of uploading users’ photos. Evolving into an “image and video hosting website,” Flickr is an easy-to-use photo and video management and sharing tool that is often used by bloggers as a photo repository.

• Flickr was founded in Canada in 2004 by two game designers
• The business was acquired by Yahoo in 2005 and moved to the US
• A basic account is free; a Pro Account with enhanced capabilities is available for $24.95/year
• As of June 2009, Flickr hosted more than 3.6 billion images

Flickr’s uploads come from camera phones and traditional cameras. The site allows users to tag photos with keywords so that they can search for a desired topic, such as a place name or photo subject. Users can post comments and mark photos as favorites, and they can also organize their photos into sets, or groups of related photos. A photo may belong to several sets, depending on the organizing preferences of the user, and these sets help direct viewers to other photos that may be of interest.

Posting photos or videos requires registration. However, unregistered users are able to search and view Flickr’s content. Once posted, materials can be made public, restricted to authorized visitors or kept private. Discover a picture or video that you’d like to put to your own use? Flickr does not become involved in relationships between its users, but its does encourage them to get in touch to discuss arrangements and permissions through the site’s FlickrMail.

Like many online tools, Flickr becomes a community and an addiction as you begin posting, viewing, discussing and tracking the activity related to your photos. The billions of photos hosted and Yahoo’s investment are indications that Flickr’s flame will burn brightly for some time to come.

Boasting its status as “the largest social publishing company in the world,” Scribd goes beyond the blogs and posts that have proliferated on the Internet. It allows writers to share screenplays, novels, recipes, puzzles, maps, magazines, newspapers and sheet music with a wide audience that includes Scribd’s community of “passionate readers.”

While some content on the site is free, book excerpts are offered to provide a complimentary sample and encourage browsers to buy those for sale. Writers set prices for their own creations and pocket 80% of the take. That percentage far exceeds the royalties paid by traditional publishers, and some authors who have previously produced the old-fashioned way report significantly higher profits with Scribd. This approach also eliminates the lengthy publishing process, bringing content to readers while it is timely and fresh.

• Scribd was launched in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco
• The company reaches more than 60 million readers each month
• On average, 50,000 documents are uploaded daily
• An estimated 35 billion words are stored on the site in 90 different languages

The company’s iPaper document reader allows writers to easily upload and share their original works. Files originating in PDF, Word or PowerPoint are transformed into web documents that can feature a variety of fonts, layouts and artwork. Documents are indexed during uploading, allowing search engines to direct prospective readers to relevant material. The iPaper reader is also embedded in numerous publications elsewhere on the web, leading many more to the site.

For browsers, the site is organized like a bricks-and-mortar bookstore, with sections for fiction, art and architecture, business, and travel, among many other selections. Focused readers can use the search function and cut to the desired material quickly.

With Amazon entering the e-books market, Scribd is building strength to find its own niche. While Amazon downloads require a Kindle reader, Scribd can work with laptops and smart phones, eliminating the need for additional hardware. Authors can prevent unauthorized downloading and copying by choosing to employ security software that encodes the documents.

Scribd is banking on its ability to read the writing on the digital wall, democratizing publishing and bringing readers and writers together in a match made in virtual heaven.

This company’s business model is designed to provide a win-win-win-win situation to its key constituencies: municipalities, member households, businesses who provide rewards to members and companies who use recycled products.

Municipalities who partner with RecycleBank realize financial benefits through savings in landfill costs as well as environmental benefits as they become cleaner, more eco-friendly places to live. In addition, they generate revenue through the sale of recycled materials that would otherwise pile up uselessly. The company reports 60 million pounds recycled, with over $6 million saved by participating municipalities.

Households in participating municipalities are provided with a recycling container that is embedded with an identifying chip. Plastics coded 1-7, glass and paper are on the recyclables list. A mechanical arm retrofitted onto the recycling truck records the household’s information as well as the weight of the recycled materials.

By logging onto the company’s site, members can see how much they recycled. Points are awarded based on the recycled material’s weight and are redeemable for discounts or merchandise at area businesses. Along with its curbside program, RecycleBank has developed partnerships with companies to receive e-waste, such as laptop computers and cell phones, and provide reward points based on the item.

• New York-based RecycleBank was founded in 2004.
• It is currently operating in 15 states, serving 90 municipalities and 210,000 households as of the end of 2008, with more than 100% growth projected in 2009.
• The company generates revenue from splitting the savings in landfill fees with the municipalities in which it operates and through advertising on its website.
• The company has attracted venture capital, including $30 million from one investor.

Companies who participate in rewarding recyclers receive several benefits. Advertising and information appear on the recycling website, and their products and services are offered to potential new customers. There is no charge to participate, just the value of the rewards given to participants. Companies that have signed on include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Petco, Kraft, Target and Sears. Companies who rely on recycling as a source of raw materials are provided with a steady stream for their use.

RecycleBank is devoted to building its value on the value of its customers’ trash, hoping to keep its own cycle going with bins full of cash as well as a positive impact on the environment.

The site’s mission is to “connect women and families to certified women-friendly car dealers.” To be certified, the dealerships must exhibit behaviors that merit the distinction. Female customers report their actual experiences with browsing, purchasing and servicing; a rating of 3.8 or above on a five-point scale earns the dealership its coveted certification.

Women directly purchase 54% of new cars and influence up to 80% of buying decisions. With an additional 65% of service work at dealers requested by women, it is estimated that female customers control $200 billion in spending. Women-drivers.com’s goal is to “transform the dealership experience for women by enriching and empowering their visit.”

The company was started by Pittsburgh resident Anne Fleming. Although she had 20 years of management experience, she hired a negotiator to seal the deal on her new BMW. When her male boss expressed shock at her reluctance to negotiate given her powerful position, she spoke with a business coach who introduced her to the author of the book Women Don’t Ask. Soon, the idea for the business was born, helping to increase women’s “automotive power.”

• Women-drivers.com was founded in 2008 in Pittsburgh and has a staff of four.
• Its initial focus is on Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, but it tracks 19,000 dealers across the US.
• Users must register, but the site is free to users age 16+ with a driver’s license.
• The company sells anonymous, collective results and descriptions of experiences to the auto industry, and dealers can purchase advertising on the site.

Using the site is simple. After signing in, women can click on the “write a dealer review” button, then select browsing, purchasing or servicing as the activity to rate. Ratings can be viewed by prospective customers to guide them to a female-friendly location. Members get a free e-newsletter sent to them, although content, including the founder’s blog, is available on the site without registering. Articles on the site focus on educating women on car models, negotiating savvy and car repair topics.

The concept has captured significant attention, with a feature on ABC news and local media coverage. With nearly three-fourths of users very or extremely likely to use the site again, women-drivers.com is revving up its engines for a national marketing campaign. Boosting their purchasing muscle to match their economic power, this is a company that has gone from zero to 60 in no time and is ready to climb the hills that lie ahead.

The company was inspired by its founder’s Chow dog. She saved all of the fur from its grooming, describing it as “so soft, so light and the color was unsurpassed by any other natural fiber I had ever seen.” Using a spinning wheel purchased by her husband, she learned how to spin the fur into yarn. Soon, a business was born.

Research and development is important in new products; VIP’s consisted of gathering samples from groomers and breeders across the US, refining spinning techniques to accommodate nearly any fur length or texture. To date, animals have included cats, dogs, rabbits, goats and even a buffalo.

• Since the company was founded in 2001, over 1,800 pounds of fur has been hand spun into nearly two million yards of yarn
• High demand for the products has created a 6-8 week waiting list

The website provides step-by-step instructions for gathering and shipping the raw material. Simply brushing, preferably with a soft wire brush, is all that’s needed. Upon receipt, VIP weighs and logs the fur, stores it in its own labeled box, and scans the pet’s photo submitted by the owner. An invoice is then sent, based on the fur received, with the pet product assigned a place in the queue upon receipt of payment. Following spinning, yarn is washed and hung to dry in the company’s special drying room, then skeined or ball wound, and custom labels with the pet’s photo applied.

For those who want a special pet keepsake but lack the craftiness to fashion it from VIP yarn, there is the option of ordering a completed product from the company. After spinning, products that can be created include a woven fur stole, tote bag, finger puppy puppets, pettable picture frame, iPod pouch, and the more traditional scarves, mittens and throw blankets. About 60% of customers choose this option.

Whether honoring a living pet or memorializing one who’s passed on, VIP fibers turns fur into fabulous, allowing animal lovers to carry their beloved pet with them in a way that does not involve bits of unwanted fuzz clinging to clothing.