Tech startup: Wimbo music INC.

• Position: SMALL BIZ

INITIAL LIGHTBULB

A longtime musician, Denis Ouellette would play guitar along to his favorite Eagles and Eric Clapton records, when inspiration struck. "I wanted to play with the band, not over the band," he says.

The 30-year commercial real estate veteran and coowner of Design Repeats, a consignment furniture store in Highlands Ranch, saw an opportunity to make an iOS app that would make "playing with the band" possible.

But after founding Wimbo Music in late 2009. Ouellette soon discovered that most major labels had eliminated their multitrack masters years ago.

Then in 2012 he connected with Digitrax Entertainment, a company based in Tennessee with a library of 4,000 digital multitrack songs for the karaoke market, and he made them a deal. "Now we have 1,100 songs in multitrack format," Ouellette says. Denver's SpireMedia worked with Ouellette to develop his app.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Wimbo Music Mixer app officially launched in November 2013. The app is free and multitrack songs are $2.99 each. ("Sweet Home Alabama" is included with the app, as are two blues numbers.)

Users are able to manipulate each track so they can play along with ease. "You can mute tracks, you can solo tracks," Ouellette says. "You now have control over music like people have never dreamed."

THE MARKET

Ouellette is largely targeting hobbyist musicians who want to play but have limited spare time. "I've had so many friends in the music world who buy all sorts of gear and it ends up in a box in someone's closet," Ouellette says. "I just want to make it easy for people."

FINANCING

"I've been my own angel investor from day one," says Ouellette. He says he is looking for an outside investment of about $750,000 in early 2014. "We're going to be looking to raise some money to bring it to Android and the desktop, and for new product development."

1. VIBRANT EARTH JUICES

   Jill Latham started making cold-pressed juice in 2011 in Santa Barbara, Calif., while studying to become a registered dietitian. "When I was in school, I [had] one of the first cold-pressed juice companies in Santa Barbara," she says. "By the time I graduated, there were five." Latham moved to Denver to be on the front end of another juicing boom. She makes nine varieties sold from a truck and her top seller is pineapple, pear, lemon, mint and flax oil. Three-quarters of her customers buy 18 bottles of juice at a time for a three-day cleanse ($195). Big news for 2014: "We're opening a retail store in Cherry...