Pittsburgh-based company
TalkShoe is the hottest new voice in high tech communication.
Launched in 2006, the company is the leading provider of talkcasting services, creating social networks of people who interact with each other through audio conversations and podcasts on computers, cell phones and land lines. TalkShoe has raised $2 mil in venture capital to date and is seeking another $1.25 mil from angel investors through Blue Tree Allied Angels.
“TalkShoe is the answer to our digitally isolated generation, a new form of group communication,” says founder and CEO Dave Nelsen. Fifty-five percent of all users on TalkShoe are between 18 and 34 years old. “Teens and preteens are attracted to texting. This is the next richer level of communication.”
Anyone can use TalkShoe now by going to the site at www.talkshoe.com. In the near future, Nelson hopes to leverage the service by plugging it into communities like MySpace, Facebook and the latest, Ning. From the site, users can select among hundreds of talk shoe podcasts, or they can create their own.
Talk topics cover everything from politics to sports and religion. There’s a Pittsburgh woman who has created a podcast on Monday nights called “Technogranny” who helps explain the latest in technology to her listeners. TalkShoe makes most of its money through short audio ads at the beginning of each program. The content is rated and restrictions exist on copyrighted and inappropriate material.
Nelsen founded the company with the help of fellow FORE Systems colleague Mark Juliano; both are graduates of Stanford. TalkShoe is based in Wexford and employs an additional team of three people.
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Dave Nelsen, TalkShoe
Image courtesy of Talkshoe