Startups

MadeMay: Matchmaking Artist and Client

MadeMay launched in 2020 to back the human touch to art, giving thoughtful people around the world an opportunity to get custom, hand-made art. Customers can upload a photo, describe what they want painted and choose from more than 400 professional artists to turn their photo or idea into a real, amazing painting. “Whether you want a portrait of someone, a pet portrait, landscape, abstract, sculpture, and more, a MadeMay artist is ready to turn your request into reality,” says founder and CEO Rei Llazani.

Explains Daniel Billington, director of content, “We recognized many injustices in the online art world, both from an artist’s standpoint and a customer’s standpoint.” This ranged from online platform’s algorithms devaluing an artist’s work to customers concerned about commissioning artwork — essentially, buying something that doesn’t exist yet. “Additionally, we witnessed many competitors secretly exploiting overseas.”

MadeMay uses an algorithm it developed to “match-make” people wanting custom art with its artists, including up-front pricing based on each specific request. “As a double-sided marketplace (for artists and customers), the easy part was getting artists on our platform,” Llazani says. “We were very transparent with our goals and objectives; they loved it and were completely on board.” But, although MadeMay’s artists are vetted professionals and although the business has a money-back guarantee policy, Llazani acknowledges that building trust when nobody knows who you are can be an Before After

obstacle. “Since most orders are above $100, it is naturally difficult for some people to feel confident in placing an order on a new platform.”

Observing that startups are chaotic in nature, Llazani encourages his team to not worry too much about making the right or wrong decision. “Embedded in our early stages is the element of freedom, experimentation and comfort in failure,” he says. “If we make the wrong call, it’s okay; we can learn from it and rapidly move in another direction. As Thomas Edison said, ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’”

Says Llazani, “Although it sounds cliche, focusing on providing value and giving customers a great experience is how we intend to overcome our challenges, no matter how long it takes.” —RaeAnne Marsh

MadeMay mademay.com

Cyber Dive was created by co-founder and CEO Jeff Gottfurcht and co-founder and chief technology officer Derek Jackson, who set out to get a better grasp on social media for families everywhere, including their own. Gottfurcht was the first person in the world to summit Mt. Everest with Rheumatoid Arthritis and worked on Wall Street for 14 years as a senior vicepresident at leading global financial firms. Jackson is an ex-military intelligence officer who previously served as a captain in the U.S. Army, where his intelligence work focused on the social media activity of U.S. adversaries and radical insurgents. cyberdive.co

Cyber Dive: Free Social Media Monitoring Tool for Parents

Cyber Dive offers a free web-based app that helps strengthen relationships by allowing parents to easily view their children’s social accounts, understand their online activity and interests and achieve peace of mind — an increasingly relevant service at a time when children are more connected than ever.

This local tech startup aims to eliminate the relevance of parenting styles when using the platform and brings awareness to a child’s mental health in correlation with their online activity. Built by in-house engineers, Cyber Dive gives parents the ability to monitor multiple social media accounts, all on one platform that is easily compatible with all iOS and Android devices.

“We developed this first of its kind online platform because we acknowledge the nuanced challenges we must traverse as parents of digitally connected kids,” says Cyber Dive cofounder and CEO Jeff Gottfurcht. “As parents of 8- to 14-yearolds, we often wonder what kids are doing on the internet, who they’re interacting with and how what they are seeing is impacting how they feel.”

Human trafficking and cyberbullying are also in the founders’ crosshairs. Cyber Dive has partnered with Phoenix Dream Center to collaborate on preventive measures to be taken against cases of human trafficking that are initiated online, and its advanced software enables it to prioritize the issue cyberbullying.

“We’ve seen that nearly 9 out of 10 kids avoid telling their parents about the negative things they see happening online. This leaves parents struggling to keep up, and oblivious to what’s happening beneath the surface,” says Derek Jackson, Cyber Dive co-founder and chief technology officer and former military intelligence officer. “As an intelligence officer, my team’s job was to dig through extensive social media data and provide only the most time-sensitive information to the commander to make life-altering decisions. We took that mindset and made the parents the commander. We show them what’s most important, so they can initiate necessary conversations and directly impact how their child navigates social media.” —Mike Hunter

Cyber Dive cyberdive.co