My Home Details was the only Vancouver startup named last week among eight finalists in a competition for $25,000 in seed money from Angel Oregon.
o Previously: Vancouver resident Ty Stober applied for $25,000 in seed money from Angel Oregon for his startup, My Home Details.
o What’s new: The idea for a social networking service to navigate the custom-home building or remodeling process was chosen to compete.
o What’s next: Stober will pitch his idea to investors March 5 at the Angel Oregon conference in Portland.
o Previously: Vancouver resident Ty Stober applied for $25,000 in seed money from Angel Oregon for his startup, My Home Details.
o What's new: The idea for a social networking service to navigate the custom-home building or remodeling process was chosen to compete.
o What's next: Stober will pitch his idea to investors March 5 at the Angel Oregon conference in Portland.
Vancouver resident Ty Stober pitched his idea for My Home, an online social network and information management service to help consumers navigate the custom-home building or remodeling process.
Site users would build a profile of their homes that they use to collect and organize their ideas for home improvement projects and to communicate with their designers and contractors. Builders, manufacturers and suppliers would then pay for market data.
Investors with the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network chose the concept from 46 early-stage and launch-stage companies in Oregon and Southwest Washington competing for angel investment in two categories, said Sarena Regazzoni, a spokeswoman for OEN.
Results of the launch-stage competition, which carries a $200,000 prize, haven’t yet been announced. But two other Vancouver-based startups are in the pool of contenders, Regazzoni said.
The eight finalists will present their concepts for judging by OEN investors during a day-long angel investment conference on March 5 at The Nines Hotel in Portland, where OEN will award the prizes.
Stober has spent the past few years in marketing, business development and operations for secure e-mail messaging and voice-over IP startups. He started his career in the wireless infrastructure industry at Larsen Electronics (now Pulse Engineering) in east Vancouver. He had his own custom home built in Vancouver in 2005.
“The business plan is inspired by the challenges I faced keeping track of all the details during the process,” Stober said.
The business would operate on a “freemium model,” with basic services supported by advertising and users paying a one-time fee for advanced services to cover the length of their project.
Stober and his business partner, Chad Harder, have identified a potential $175 million market for My Home Details’ core product, geared to homeowners. They are now designing the site and defining the data they plan to collect and include.
“We are still operating virtually, though I am a member of Nedspace in Portland, so I can use their meeting facilities and have access to their network of entrepreneurs,” said Stober, who plans to incorporate the business in Washington for the tax advantages. “Once the product is fully defined, we will be contracting with a development house for implementation.”
Stober plans to launch the service this fall and hopes to become profitable in 2011. His goal is to eventually reach $30 million in revenue and sell the business to a media company.
