Hivelive Inc.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: COMPANY - Company overview

INITIAL LIGHT BULB: Brothers John and Geoff Kembel wanted a means of better keeping in touch with one another and spun the resulting technology off into a new startup company, HiveLive. "It started with our own need of connecting and sharing with ourselves and family," John says. "And we built the technology that is now the most flexible community platform in the enterprise social software space." That product, the LiveConnect Community Platform, is now HiveLive's key offering.

Departing from the Silicon Valley status quo, the brothers decided to start HiveLive from Boulder, opening the first HiveLive office in early 2007. Both Kembels had their hand in several different technology ventures in California before co-founding HiveLive, John as a serial entrepreneur and Geoff as an engineer-of-all-trades. "My wife was born and raised in Boulder," John says. "We opted to moved to Colorado to start the company. It's a good time and a good place for our startup."

Now 30 employees strong, HiveLive officially launched in November 2007 with John as CEO and Geoff as application architect.

IN A NUTSHELL: HiveLive's LiveConnect Community Platform "helps companies build customer communities," John says. "We help them effectively use social software. Technologies that have been successful in the consumer space like MySpace and Facebook, how do you take those kinds of things and apply them to business needs?"

To this end, the LiveConnect platform offers users the ability to build a site that integrates all of the technologies of the social networking universe to a people-centered website for a community of customers. "That original premise of taking a people-centered, not technology-centered, point of view is now our greatest advantage," John says. "We do lead-generation through community and word of mouth, which is more cost effective. Customer loyalty traditionally is through loyalty programs and membership programs--we build loyalty by allowing customers to connect with each other and building a community of folks who want to stay connected."

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Kembel touts LiveConnect as easy to use and eminently customizable, noting. "We believe everybody's business is unique. Our platform allows you to rapidly construct something that is specific for you. You don't need a Java developer--you just need a mouse."

Pricing for LiveConnect varies based on the size of the project and the level of customization, including activation and consulting fees...