“Founder and CEO Russell Benaroya tells us that the way health care is set up (in the U.S.) today, the people making healthy lifestyle choices end up subsidizing those who are making unhealthy decisions; instead, they should be rewarded for it. If the country is going crazy for consumer-centric healthcare, then that inherently demands that people be given control over their health (and healthcare).

“EveryMove is looking to give consumers control by way of an interactive web and mobile platform that helps them connect and organize their health and fitness activities while turning their lifestyle actions into rewards and incentives within their health plans. The market has been primarily focused on ‘wellness’ and ‘behavior change,’ but wellness, Benaroya says, happens to crowded and employer-centric, while behavior change is actually really hard to get right because building a “one size fits all,” scalable platform tends to do so by sacrificing the individual.

“In turn, health providers have less than growing reputations among consumers (let’s be honest here — just ask Castlight) so they’re looking to build closer/better relationships with their customers. Generally speaking, to do this, they’re looking to partner with them to encourage actions that have a positive outcome on their long-term health — and their wallets. (This latter part is, admittedly, hard to believe given where their interests lie, but again, see our Castlight coverage.)”

Continue reading on TechCrunch.

“Energy. That’s my first impression as I walked into 1871, the hotly anticipated co-working space for digital entrepreneurs located on the 12th floor of the Merchandise Mart.

“But 1871, opened last Tuesday, is much more than that. It’s the entrepreneurial equivalent of the Silk Road — an intersection of routes and trades, the perfect blend of start-up chemistry, designed to drive growth and innovation. As Gov. Pat Quinn said when he announced a $2.3 million grant to support 1871 earlier this year, this venture will ‘expand… businesses, create jobs and grow our economy.’

“And he meant it.

“‘This place is going to provide a lot of possibilities for people to interact, for sparks to occur, for juxtapositions of people and ideas that wouldn’t have otherwise met,’ said Nick Rosa, managing director of Sandbox Industries, whose Excelerate Labs will hold its summer accelerator program at 1871. ‘It’s at those intersections where really good innovation occurs.’”

Continue reading on NBC Chicago.

“Of the services I tried for this article, Chicago-based CakeStyle is my favorite. Two weeks after I filled out a 21-question survey about my sizes, tastes, and needs, a cardboard box arrived, neatly packed with chic pieces of clothing and jewelry from such labels as 3.1 Phillip Lim, Theory, and Kate Spade. There’s no charge for the shipment–you pay only for anything you keep. Two more things I loved: CakeStyle threw in a metallic belt as a gift for trying the service, and a video my stylist filmed suggested outfit combinations.

“Though I hadn’t spoken to the person pulling my clothes, she nailed my request for arty, office-appropriate pieces that could also be dressed up for a night out. Sifting through the box, I felt as if I were on a dream shopping spree. My favorite brands, colors, and cuts were all there. I knew she and I were on the same page when I pulled out a bright-orange pencil skirt by Rachel Roy–a near carbon copy of a J. Crew style I had already been wearing for months. Surprisingly, most everything fit.”

Continue reading on the Washingtonian.

CakeStyle was also recently featured on Racked Chicago and Refinery29.

“Working out may be a time to unwind and clear your head, but more consumers are turning to smartphones to stay connected while exercising, according to a new study.

“A new infographic from market research firm Lab42 found that 51% of consumers are using smartphones during their workouts, whether for checking email (33%) or tracking their pace (43%). Listening to music is the most popular way to incorporate mobile devices into a workout (91%).

“The study was conducted among 500 social media users who place a high emphasis on health and exercising.

“About 33% of respondents said they use apps to track fitness and food regimens, while 31% do similar tracking on websites. Using a game console remains a popular way to do workouts, as 14% use a gaming system to exercise. About 51% who do so said they use the Wii Fit.”

View the infographic below:

Continue reading on Mashable.

“Want to start a company… but you’re short on ideas? There’s an incubator for that.

“Well, actually, it’s called a ‘foundry.’

What is a foundry?

“Chicago-based Sandbox Industries recently opened a new start-up foundry in San Francisco. Managing Director Millie Tadewaldt says unlike a traditional incubator that brings in early-stage start-ups already working on idea, Sandbox simply looks for talented people–often with no entrepreneurial experience. It gives them mentorship and capital and tasks them with identifying promising new start-up ideas through testing, market research, focus groups–whatever it takes to figure out which ideas have legs.

“Its closest proxies, she says, are Santa Monica-based Science or New York-basedBetaworks, although what makes Sandbox different is its venture capital arm. Projects are initially funded internally by the foundry, then when mature, the teams seek funding from outside VCs and angels, as well as from Sandbox’s venture funds.

Shared resources are lean

“Sandbox also works with entrepreneurs to build teams using shared resources within Sandbox.

“‘We have a team of designers, developers, social media people, writers, and PR that are already here so when a person comes in and wants to work on an idea they don’t have to go hire a developer to build the prototype. We have one. They don’t have to hire a designer to make the logo. We have one,’ Tadewaldt says.

“In essence, Sandbox tries to turn any one business person into a ready-made startup team, at least in the early stages.”

Continue reading on Inc.

“BOSTON – April 26, 2012 – Healthbox, a company that supports innovation and entrepreneurship in healthcare, has announced it is launching a business accelerator program in the Boston/Cambridge area. Up to ten New England-based healthcare startups will be selected for the three-month program. Each company selected will receive $50,000 in seed capital, access to a mentor network of industry experts, collaborative workspace and strategic guidance. The program launches this August and will conclude with a high-profile conference in November, where each participant will be able to pitch to an audience of investors and healthcare leaders from across the country.

“‘Massachusetts’ world-renowned academic institutions, cutting-edge provider systems and strong investor community make it an ideal location for a healthcare accelerator to stimulate the ecosystem and support new ideas,’ said Nina Nashif, Founder of Healthbox. ‘We are looking forward to working with New England’s most promising healthcare entrepreneurs to help them gain traction in the industry and develop sustainable businesses.’

“Earlier this year, Healthbox hosted its first program in Chicago. Ten healthcare technology startups were selected out of hundreds of applicants to participate in the program, and in three short months, the teams were able to evolve their business models and establish new partnerships and pilots through the support of the Healthbox infrastructure. The program was supported by strategic partners that included Boston-based HLM Venture Partners, as well as Ascension Health, BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, California HealthCare Foundation, Merge Healthcare, Merrick Ventures, Sandbox Industries and Walgreens. Healthbox will continue to expand its partnerships and will be working with additional leading organizations as it continues to grow.”

Continue reading on PEHUB.

Sandbox Managing Director and head of both the Chicago and San Francisco Startup Foundries Millie Tadewaldt was interviewed for both pieces. Find excerpts from each below.

From WSJ:

“Functioning as both a venture capital firm and a foundry for start-ups, Sandbox has taken an unusual approach to starting companies, hiring founders-in-residence a few years out of school who’ve acquired some business experience and having them generate and research ideas.

“‘We all realize that it’s hard to go be an entrepreneur for the first time,’ especially if a founder is young, said Millie Tadewaldt, a managing director for Sandbox and the head of its San Francisco Startup Foundry. ‘We think a lot of mistakes that entrepreneurs make are things that could be prevented.’

“Founders in residence can use focus groups, conversations with customers, landing page tests, product technology tests and other techniques to establish the value of a potential company’s market (assuming there is one) and how quickly a company could be shot down.

“The foundry’s biggest technique, though, is idea recycling, where ‘you take other ideas that you see in the market and boil them down into short phrases…and someone new reads the phrase and it sparks a new idea,’ Tadewaldt said. Also, when you’re in the venture industry, she said, ‘everyone tells you their start-up ideas.’”

Continue reading Sandbox Industries Plays In San Francisco, Raises Funds on The Wall Street Journal.

From TechCrunch:

“Sandbox Industries isn’t easy to describe in a few words. The Chicago-based company has its hands in quite a few pots; it’s both a startup foundry and a venture capital firm focused on building and investing in seed-stage software and consumer tech startups. But, as the founder and primary investor in Excelerate, a summer startup bootcamp program, it’s also an accelerator. Not to mention that it manages a corporate venture fund for Blue Cross Blue Shield to invest in tech-enabled healthcare companies, or that, in partnership with BCBS Venture Partners, it recently launched Healthbox, an accelerator focused on kickstarting healthtech startups.

“But ask Sandbox how it defines its company, and it will tell you that it is neither an accelerator, nor a venture fund. That’s because the company is attempting to bring a new approach to the traditional incubator, following the lead of New York-based betaworks, the home of bit.ly, SocialFlow, Chartbeat and more. Betaworks, too, eschews ‘accelerator’ and ‘venture fund’ labels, opting instead to be a hybrid, building and investing in its own companies. Today, Sandbox is announcing that it is bringing the betaworks model to San Francisco, and is in turn refocusing its energy on its startup foundry.

“This means that, unlike traditional accelerators which have become trendy of late, Sandbox will look to bring in individual entrepreneurs, not teams of startups, to generate, research, and build ideas internally. Initially, projects will be funded internally by the foundry, and once they hit maturity, the teams will be encouraged to seek funding from outside VCs and angels — with help from Sandbox’s venture funds.”

Continue reading Betaworks With A Twist: Sandbox Brings Its Startup Foundry To San Francisco on TechCrunch.

“With diminishing reimbursements and rising practice costs, it is increasingly difficult for clinicians to administer clinical risk assessments to patients. Phreesia’s comprehensive check-in solution eliminates the time-consuming administrative work from the screening process, allowing clinicians to screen more patients and effortlessly identify those who require further diagnostic evaluation. Since November 2010, Phreesia has screened thousands of children for ASD and has identified over 26 percent who required further evaluation. By administering the M-CHAT electronically with Phreesia, medical practices save hours of staff time previously spent managing paper forms and scoring results, enabling them to spend more time focusing on patient care and engaging with patients in the exam room.

“Says Rondie Ervin, MD, of Victory Pediatrics in Covington, Ga., ‘Phreesia has made the standardized developmental screening process incredibly easy for us. We had been administering the M-CHAT on paper, which is a very cumbersome process. With Phreesia, we’ve been able to go paperless and it automatically scores the results, which we can then upload into our system. This saves us about 20 minutes of work per patient, and I feel confident that we are screening our patients appropriately and giving them the level of care that they need.’”

Continue reading on PR Newswire.

“While driving along the other day I had an epiphany as I studied the FedEx logo on the side of a truck as I passed (specifically the cleverly hidden arrow in the negative space that I assume is meant to imply forward progress). I realized that, no matter how well-conceived the logo concept may have been, it’s a bit flawed because, depending on what side of the truck you are on, the arrow can be pointing forward or backward. In a similar fashion it struck me that despite good intentions, an entrepreneur, especially in the tech industry, can find it hard to know what direction to point in order to make forward progress. My hope is that this post, and DailyTekk in general, will be a great resource for tech startups everywhere and a one that will help get them pointed in the right direction.

“To that end, I’ve compiled a huge list of tools that I think could be useful to a tech startup, especially those just getting started (at least they are useful to me). From getting inspired to hiring an awesome team to moving out of your garage into a more functional workspace, this post is designed to be a bookmark-able resource (that we’ll keep updated over time) to help you get a good start. While I did include some crowd funding resources, I purposefully left out venture and angel sources because I feel that it’s really about who you know and your own personal network when it comes to raising that kind of capital. Just build a great product and focus on making the right connections. Along those lines, I did include some great tools for  researching and testing your product and pitching your ideas once the time is right.”

Continue reading and view the full list on DailyTekk.

You started this company while you were a student at University of Chicago. Had you planned on going to into business? 

I never ever intended to start a company. I was preparing to go to medical school. It was going to be a project. I thought it was ridiculous that this process of finding school loans was dominated by Google. I just thought it would be a simple service, a hobby project.

When did you decide to really shift towards entrepreneurship?

You’ve heard of tech incubators? They give you office space and a small budget. We had 13 weeks to build our product. Once we got the product launched, it just really took off. We had thousands of users already. Lots of good press. That’s when we decided to take a semester leave of absence. We didn’t think we were gonna drop out. At the end of the semester we raised angel capital from professional investors. They were very reputable people. At that point, we knew that we needed to pursue this full time.

Do you think it’s been harder for you as a female to get funding for your start-up? Has it given you an edge?

With our investors, none of them cared one way or another that I was female. They don’t look at gender. They look for results. They wanted a team and a product that would be profitable. These are serious financial investors. I don’t think being female hurt or helped me.

Continue reading on The Grindstone.