Max Yoder is exactly the kind of founder SproutBox is looking for. 
He’s straightforward, smart, humble, opinionated and driven. His
 startup, Quipol, is only a few weeks old, was built on a shoestring 
budget and is already making waves across the world.

Quipol is quite simple. It’s an embeddable polling application. How it 
impacts user behavior is what is fascinating. Much like Twitter and
 FormSpring, its constraints and simplicity make it greater than the 
sum of its parts.

Quipols are incredibly easy to build and share,
 allowing creators to engage their users while simultaneously unlocking
 the opinions and perspectives of their audience.  A Quipol helps focus
 and direct the conversation around content, minimizing the typical 
internet comments free-for-all. By leveraging networks like Facebook 
and Twitter, Quipol makes polls social, driving users back to the 
original embed source. This combination of higher engagement, enhanced data collection, and increased traffic is a game 
changer for anyone with an audience.

The easiest way to describe a Quipol is to embed one:

Through perseverance (as in continually offering to do others’ laundry), Max has surrounded himself with an all-star team of Indiana advisors, including top minds from 
KA+A, SproutBox and Gravity Labs. He created personalized videos to 
send early adopters in the press. Each month, he dedicates 
61% of his income from his day job to his startup. He is a crazy one.

We’re proud to have Max and Quipol as a part of the SproutBox family.

To find out more about Quipol check out some of the recent press coverage on
 The Next Web and NBC Chicago.

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Our fall interns are in! These students work on sprout projects ranging from video and finance to social media and marketing. If you haven’t met our interns yet, here’s your chance to get to know them a little better.

Ben Dixon, CheddarGetter
Bloomington, IN
Studying: Computer Science
Favorite local restaurant: Little Zagreb
When I’m not at the Box, I am: Hanging out with friends or wandering around campus.
Words I live by: Nothing is ever certain.
Favorite movie: Super Troopers
I’m very particular about: Pronouncing words correctly.
Stuff I like: Twitter, Reddit, Playing Video Games, Listening to lots of music

Ashton Hendrich, Video
New Albany, IN
Studying: Telecommunications, minors in fine art and business
Favorite local restaurant: The Irish Lion
When I’m not at the Box, I am: Studying/homework, working, hanging out with my crazy roommates.
Words I live by: “Ours is not a finished world, we need not fear change.” – Herman B. Wells
Favorite movie: Across the Universe
I’m very particular about: Filling up the ice cube tray!
Stuff I like: Dancing, Stumbling, being obsessed with Beyonce, finding awesome stop-motion videos online, and doodling

Avram Rampersaud, Finance
Indianapolis, IN
Studied: Masters in Information Systems
Favorite local restaurant: Upland
When I’m not at the Box, I am: At Kilroys
Words I live by: The future is no place to place your better days.
Favorite movie: Shawshank Redemption
I’m very particular about: Setting my alarm clock and microwave to odd numbers (except 5)
Stuff I like: I am addicted to all things golf and fantasy football. Love reading books about Africa, economics and the financial crisis. Full time DMB junkie.

Stephanie Barton, Social Media
Kokomo, IN
Studying: Journalism, minor in English
Favorite local restaurant: Anatolia
When I’m not at the Box, I am: Running around campus in a panic.
Words I live by: “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”- Oscar Wilde
Favorite movie: Good Will Hunting
I’m very particular about: My nails.
Stuff I like: The Overspent American, Twitter, Reddit, Goodwill, Foo Fighters, Eating

Brandon Walsh, Video Production
Indianapolis, IN
Studying: Telecommunications, Communications & Culture
Favorite Local Restaurant: Cafe Pizzaria
When I’m not at the Box, I am: Studying, reading good jokes, watching movies, writing bad jokes, eating pasta.
Words I live by: “The more you look the more you find.” -Robert M. Pirsig
Favorite movie: I’ve seen that live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie far too many times.
I’m very particular about: Two-way tie between cleanliness and adjectives
Stuff I like: Tichu (it’s a cool Chinese card game), videogum.com, Friday Night Lights, Radiohead, and Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, Ohio.”

Amy Pottenger, Video Production
Indianapolis, IN
Studying: Telecommunications, Psychology
Favorite local restaurant: Little Tibet, Restaurant Tallent
When I’m not at the Box, I am: Listening to music (mostly indie rock), Going to concerts
Words I live by: Always be curious about life, and be open-minded.
Favorite movie: Lost In Translation
I’m very particular about: Spending enough time with family.
Stuff I like: Fleet Foxes; Animal Collective, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!; Mad Men, Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Running, Road trips/Parks

Jordan Hudelson,  Marketing & Social Media
Fort Wayne, IN
Studying: Journalism, Business Marketing Minor
Favorite local restaurant: FARM Bloomington—the Lugar burger is my favorite.  The Irish Lion takes a close second place.
When I’m not at the Box, I am: At the Journalism school—but in my free time, you might catch me feeding my most recent addiction:  Mad Men.
Words I live by: “Be a good listener.  Your ears will never get you in trouble.”
Favorite movie: American Beauty or Step Mom—I love movies with great cinematography.  Most recently though, I’m obsessed with Bridesmaids (like everyone else and their mother).
I’m very particular about:
I’ve been called anal-retentive more times than I can count, so picking one thing would be difficult.  I’m really particular about clean design—I can’t stand clutter.
Stuff I like: the Mashable blog, piano, Ikea (I love going up to Illinois and seeing all of the new displays once a year), Dean Martin , honest people.  I’m a pretty simple person.  I’d really like to learn how to cook (more than Ramen noodles).

Brian Boles, Video
Avon, IN
Studying: Telecommunications
Favorite local restaurant: The Laughing Planet
When I’m not at the Box, I am: Jamming on guitar in my room.
Words I live by: “As a man thinketh, in his heart so is he.”
Favorite movie: Star Wars
I’m very particular about: I always match my belt to my shoes.
Stuff I like: I like to play guitar, read comic books, watch movies, and play video games. Some of my favorite bands are the Black Keys, Led Zeppelin, Streetlight Manifesto, and anything Jack White is involved with. John Green is my favorite author and one of my favorite websites is the Chive.com

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How did you spend 54 hours of this past weekend? I bet you weren’t as productive as the 40 participants who competed in Startup Weekend Bloomington. About 20 business ideas were pitched Friday night at Ivy Tech. From those 20 ideas, nine progressed into complete business plans, prototypes or actual working products. These ideas ranged from geofencing coupon notifications, or a mobile app for loyalty cards, to a guide to becoming an expert planter, or even a platform enabling you and your friends to create scholarships.

After 54 hours of hard work, the nine companies presented their product to a panel of five judges. The judges deliberated and decided on the winner. Fundships, the winner of Startup Weekend Bloomington, enables people and their friends to create scholarships around causes they care about. You can choose the amount to donate and ask friends to pitch in and then decide who is the most deserving for the scholarship. Fundships makes building a scholarship easy and personal. It makes funding and finding a scholarship simple for both, the funders and scholars.

So what did they win? A million dollars? No, the winning team received development resources from local companies. They also won the chance to compete in Startup Weekend’s Global Battle. Global Startup Battle allows winners from any of the Startup Weekend events that were held in the past two weeks an opportunity to meet leading investors in Silicon Valley and participate in great events worldwide. How do these winners battle it out? Each winning team had 24 hours from the end of the event to upload a 90 second video about their product. From there, the world decides the winner.

How awesome would it be if Fundships, the Bloomington winner, which includes five Bloomington teammates and one teammate from Purdue (he was smart and joined Startup Weekend Bloomington), won the Global Battle?

Here’s what you can do to help:

• Vote for Fundships!
• Like Fundships via Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
• Spread the word about Fundships by signing up for their newsletter and sharing with friends.

A special thanks to Kevin Weaver and Blueline Style and Media Productions for all the hard work that went into making this amazing video:

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