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Originally designed to make life easier for business networking group owners, Start a Network has evolved into a versatile solution applicable to professional, non-professional, and social groups alike. The platform offers customizable group websites, robust member portals, multi-channel communication, automated content creation with AI assistance, and user-friendly event management."

We initially wanted to create an easy way for networking group leaders to handle logistics without the typical headaches and growth pains," said Brian Botch, co-founder and architect of Start a Network. "In building out features to help these entrepreneurs succeed, we realized we had developed a platform that could strengthen all sorts of groups and communities."

Mueller, a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience, believes in the importance of in-person gatherings and aims to build on those relationships through the platform. "Our goal is to make it easier to not only stay in touch but to build camaraderie and lift one another up," he stated. "We do this through actively participating in the endorsement of one another's businesses, skill sets, and personality traits via our social media integration."

With its focus on data security, privacy, and seamless integration with various applications, Start a Network is poised to become the go-to solution for group management in the digital age. As Mueller puts it, "There's really no end to the different types of groups that could benefit from our service. We're excited to see all the different types of groups that will ultimately benefit from our platform."

Learn more about Start A Network

It's not just about the Business of Tech - Dave emphasizes the importance of business fundamentals like profitability, customer service, and managing risk. He even calls out MSPs who aren't taking data security seriously enough!

Have you ever wondered what it takes to run a successful tech podcast? In this exciting episode of Software Spotlight, host Michael Bernzweig sits down with Dave Sobel, the mastermind behind the popular "The Business of Tech" podcast.

Dave shares his fascinating journey from computer science grad to IT business owner to becoming a trusted voice in the tech services industry. He reveals the secrets behind his daily podcast, where he breaks down the latest news and trends to help managed service providers (MSPs) stay ahead of the curve.

So what makes Dave's podcast so special? It's all about delivering valuable insights that MSPs can use to grow their businesses and navigate challenges. Dave digs deep to uncover the "why" behind each story and relates it back to real-world impact.

Through his podcast, Dave aims to make the lives of IT service providers a little bit easier each day. His passion for the industry shines through as he shares practical advice and thought-provoking analysis.

Whether you're an MSP looking to level up your game or just fascinated by the world of tech, this episode of Software Spotlight is a must-listen. Dave Sobel's expertise and engaging style will leave you informed, entertained, and eager to tune in for more tech talk.

Learn more about The Business of Tech

Wonderful's open banking solution offers a streamlined user experience, eliminating the need to enter card details and go through multiple verification steps. Payments are authorized directly within the user's familiar mobile banking app. For merchants, the cost savings are significant, with Wonderful charging just 1 penny per transaction compared to the typical 1.4% plus 20 pence fees of major card processors in the UK.

In an exclusive interview on the Software Spotlight podcast, Kieron James, CEO and Co-Founder of Wonderful, discusses how his company is revolutionizing payments through open banking. Wonderful provides a solution for secure, instant bank payments at no cost, addressing the high fees and friction associated with traditional credit card processing.

James explains that the idea for Wonderful originated in 2016 when his son encountered high payment processing costs while fundraising for a charity. This led to the creation of wonderful.org, a free online giving platform initially funded by corporate sponsorship. However, as the platform grew, card processing fees limited its impact and reach.

The solution presented itself in the form of open banking. “What basically happened when we discovered open banking was that we found a method of moving the donors money from their account to the charity's account in one tap on a mobile phone or a couple of clicks on a laptop,” James explains. “And essentially, that money was moved directly from that account into the charity's account with only one intermediary rather than several intermediaries.”

Currently launched in the UK, Wonderful is focusing on the charity sector but is expanding to serve the country's 5.5 million small businesses. The company recently integrated with WooCommerce on WordPress and plans further e-commerce platform integrations to make open banking payments widely accessible.

Learn more about Wonderful

With over 30 years of experience in cybersecurity, Christian Espinosa has protected companies, medical devices like pacemakers, and government systems from online threats. He started Blue Goat Cyber to make services like penetration testing more accessible for startups pursuing SOC 2 compliance.

Espinosa focuses on understanding each client's maturity level instead of overwhelming them with an extensive checklist. By mastering the top priorities first, organizations can become more secure than trying to do too many things at once.

His team takes an in-depth, consultative approach, with an initial test to identify vulnerabilities, recommendations to fix them, and a second round of testing to validate remediation. This ensures problems are actually resolved rather than just assumed fixed.

Espinosa specializes in securing medical devices where cyber attacks could literally endanger lives by hacking into pacemakers or autonomous surgical robots. He emphasizes practical protections over just more employee training, since people will inevitably still click on phishing emails.

By partnering long-term instead of one-off engagements, Blue Goat Cyber helps companies implement layered defenses like multi-factor authentication and patch management. This focus on the fundamentals allows small and medium businesses to maximize impact even with limited budgets.

With his extensive experience across industries and technologies, Christian Espinosa has a proven track record in cybersecurity. Blue Goat Cyber's customized assessments help ensure companies have the safeguards they need to operate securely.

Learn more about Blue Goat Cyber.

ProValet.IO is an automated service management platform designed for pool service companies. Founder Peter Wasmer created it after poor experiences contacting his pool provider. He saw an opportunity to transition pool companies from manual systems to automation.

The platform tackles major pain points for pool businesses: scheduling, invoicing, customer communication. It features apps connecting field techs, owners, and homeowners.

The field tech app optimizes routes, provides turn-by-turn navigation, allows real-time service updates. The owner dashboard centralizes operations with route planning, invoicing, QuickBooks integration, and reporting. Homeowners can request repairs directly through their app.

ProValet automates administrative tasks for owners to focus on growth over daily management. It increases cash flow with streamlined invoicing and instant payments. The platform also leverages data and analytics to identify profitable customers and areas for improvement.

Learn more about the ProValet.io solution.

In this exclusive Software Spotlight podcast interview, Tykr founder and CEO Sean Tepper traces his 20-year entrepreneurial journey that ultimately led him to create the unique stock analysis platform. After success running a web agency and investing his own money, Sean realized he could productize his quantitative value investing strategy to serve retail investors lacking confidence and expertise.

Over 3+ years of software development and feedback from early users, Tykr evolved into an all-in-one stock screening, educational and portfolio tracking tool aiming to provide clarity and confidence for DIY stock picking. With a growing global customer base, Sean focuses on continually removing friction and enhancing understanding to spread financial knowledge.

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The podcast features an interview between host Michael Bernzweig and guest Brian Childress, an accomplished software architect and fractional CTO. Childress discusses his background starting as a software developer and rising to senior technical roles designing complex systems.

Now operating as a fractional CTO, Childress works with startups and small/medium businesses to solve problems with their software products. He helps companies tackle challenges like scaling systems for growth, improving code quality, addressing security vulnerabilities, leveraging AI/data innovations, and more.

Childress explains how consistency, thoughtful naming conventions and clear terminology make APIs easier to use and expand. He emphasizes access control as a top application security priority to restrict data and functionality access appropriately.

On building secure applications, Childress advises incorporating security discussions into the development process to create a "security culture." He recommends developers learn basic application security concepts using resources like the OWASP Top 10 common vulnerabilities list.

Childress shares insights on joining existing development teams mid-project, praising their efforts to date and evaluating knowledge to determine the best path forward. This thoughtful approach allows him to provide maximum value without disrupting team cohesion.

Learn more about Brian Childress

Robert Brill has worked in digital advertising for over 20 years. He started Brill Media, an award-winning advertising agency, in 2013. The company helps brands drive sales and growth through data-driven advertising campaigns across platforms like Facebook, Google, TikTok, and connected TV.

Brill Media combines precise audience data, partnerships with advertising platforms, and smart testing strategies to create effective campaigns. The company provides the capabilities of large agencies to small and midsize brands looking to scale their advertising.

Key insights from Brill include leveraging broad targeting on platforms that use powerful algorithms like Facebook and Google to find a brand's best potential customers. Creative testing is also essential - starting with 5 ad variations and combining elements like headlines, images, and text to uncover the optimal ad combinations.

Brill Media's customized dashboards provide transparency into campaign performance so brands can see what's working and optimize further. As a result of their expertise, the company has quickly grown client ad budgets 10-20x year-over-year.

Brill Media now generates multi-million dollar revenues with a 13 year track record of fueling business growth through advertising. As Brill summarizes, "I realized there is a need for digital advertising to make its way to small and midsize advertisers and with that I created Brill Media. Fast forward to 2023, I have an incredible team, happy clients across the USA, and mid-seven-digit sales revenue."

Learn more about Brill Media

This Software Spotlight podcast features an interview with Dustin Howes, an entrepreneur and expert in affiliate partnerships. Dustin cofounded a company called Affistash that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help brands find and recruit affiliate,  partners to promote their products.

Affistash makes the tedious process of manually searching for and contacting potential affiliates much easier. Its technology can instantly find relevant websites and influencers that match a brand's target customer. It also provides data about the website's traffic and audience.

Once Affistash identifies good prospects, it can automatically draft customized partnership invites for brands to send out. It also has tools to easily manage communications and track the results of affiliate partnerships.

Dustin explains how this saves partnership managers at brands a lot of time so they can focus on actually building relationships with affiliates rather than manual busywork. More time to recruit partners means more sales.

The idea for Housecall Pro emerged when the founders noticed a gap in software solutions tailored specifically for service professionals working out in the field. Learn more about Housecall Pro. They set out to build an easy-to-use mobile app to help contractors manage all aspects of their business from one central platform. 

Today, Housecall Pro's all-in-one software helps home service companies like plumbers, HVAC technicians, handymen and more handle scheduling, dispatching, estimating, invoicing, customer management, marketing, websites, payroll, and more. Roland explains that their platform helps contractors "streamline and get everything from their scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, customer database, marketing, websites, payroll onto one simple app."

Key benefits of using Housecall Pro include:
- Increased Efficiency - Consolidating tools saves users hours of manual work and eliminates tedious data entry. Users report getting paperwork done 3x faster.  
- Better Organization - The centralized platform reduces clutter and helps contractors stay organized in real-time while out in the field.  
- Enhanced Customer Experience - Automated texts, online booking, and seamless payments give homeowners an "Uber-like" service experience, driving more business.

Some of Housecall Pro's most valuable features include scheduling and dispatch optimization, estimates/invoices/payments, customer database and history tracking, integrated websites and online booking, marketing tools, accounting/payroll services, call answering, reviews collection, consumer financing options, and API/automation capabilities. 

Housecall Pro manages double digit billions in services annually across hundreds of thousands of field professionals. Users typically see 30%+ year-over-year revenue growth after adopting the software since it makes them more efficient and streamlined. Exciting new innovations Housecall Pro is working on include AI-powered business insights and task automation.