I know this is coming a bit late but nevertheless we are hitting you with the Pokin’ Holes Pre-Show and Jason Shah, founder of INeedAPencil (on twitter).

Grab your ticket for this week’s show… http://pokinholes.eventbrite.com

INeedAPencil provides online SAT preparation targeting students who wouldn’t typically be able to participate in the more expensive SAT tutoring classes.  Jason and his team have designed INeedAPencil to provide students with interesting learning content, proven testing methods and helpful student tools.

We are going to be at The Lansdowne this week for the show.  I’ve been talking to Meghan there and because she loves the DartCommunity so much she is going to be giving us free apps before the show so make sure you get there early, grab a beer (or wine or cocktail) and meet some great people.

9 Lansdowne St
Boston, MA 02215

If you have any questions be sure to get in touch otherwise I look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday!

While Dart typically concentrates on Boston based start-ups we have a couple of 23 year old guest from France coming to Boston to gain insight from Boston’s entrepreneurial community.

Nicolas and Guillaume, founders of La 3ieme Main (I’m working on my French so I can pronounce this) arrived in Boston at 5pm last night and then booked it over to DartHQ to shoot the Pre-Show at 6:45pm.  I have to thank them as well as Yann, from the French consulate for pushing through jet lag to participate on the Pre-Show.

If you want to come out to Pokin’ Holes on Thursday pick up your ticket… http://pokinholes.eventbrite.com

This Thursday we will be at Vlora.  We have a special event this week as Thomas Edwards,The Professional Wingman, will be on hand to shoot his live show, WingmanTV.  So come out, support the local Boston entrepreneurial community and enjoy quality cocktails and conversation.

545 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

See everyone on Thursday!

Where were you when I had group project courses to deal with?  I don’t know about you but I spent way too much time during my project intensive college courses coordinating my team through e-mails and trying to remember which e-mail attachment of the project was the most current.

This week on Pokin’ Holes we will be talking about Wiggio founded by recent Cornell grad, Dana Lampbert.  Wiggio claims it’s the easiest way to communicate and work in groups.  Currently Wiggio is being evangelized by college students but the question remains, where are Wiggio’s dollar bills going to be pouring in from?

Grab your free ticket for Thursday…

Listen to my conversation with Dana about Wiggio:

This week we will be at WorkBar Boston.

129 South St
Boston, MA 02111

If you have any questions, please get in touch otherwise we look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday night!

DartBoston has extended its reach this week to the greater New England region as the company in the Pokin’ Holes hot seat comes from a senior at Brown University in Providence, RI.  Andy Hunt is the founder of Scholars for Students which provides SAT and ACT prep  for current high schools students taught by current college students who performed exceptionally well on their standardized tests.

Get your ticket…

I don’t know about many of you but this would have been incredibly beneficial to me as my standardized exam scores were not as good as they probably should have been.  Andy and his tutors pride themselves on creating a fun and engaging environment with their pupils which in turn has produced incredible results.

Currently Andy caters to the Southern Massachusetts region so if you know anyone who will be taking their SAT’s or ACT’s soon, tell them to get in touch with Scholars for Students!

This week we are going to be heading to McGreevy’s on Boylston St.

911 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02115

We hope that you can make it out and enjoy a few beverages with us this Thursday night starting at 6:45pm!

For this week, and in the spirit of Boston’s Fashion Week we are taking a look at the company Blank Label started by Fan Bi.  Blank Label allows guys to dream up and then create their own custom fit dress shirts.  Guys can choose the different styling options for their collar, cuffs, placket, shirt body, shoulders, buttons, shirt yoke, and pockets.  That’s right, your style of shirt no longer sits on the shelves of Newbury Street but rather is a few clicks away at Blank Label’s website.

Grab your free ticket… http://pokinholes.eventbrite.com

To learn more about Blank Label, listen to my conversation with Fan and hear how he is looking to disrupt the men’s dress shirt business.

This week’s show will be atRevolution Rock Bar in the financial district.

200 High St
Boston, MA 02110

It’s going to be our first time at this venue and from what I hear it should be a great spot!

I hope to see you all on Thursday night for Pokin’ Holes!

That’s where Stefanie Smith and her company Launch Into Boston come in.  Launch Into Boston helps graduating college students transition into Boston’s ‘real world’.  Whether a student needs help finding a job, living in the best neighborhood or meeting new people in the city Stefanie can help anyone feel comfortable with their new life in Boston.

Free tickets here: http://pokinholes.eventbrite.com/

Before heading out to the show this week listen to me and Stefanie talk more in depth about Launch into Boston.

This week we have a special treat for all of you who come out.  We are going to be heading to Vox Populi

755 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

and there will be food and drinks for everyone who attends.  So come on over to Vox and participate in the Launch Into Boston conversation.

Get your ticket: http://pokinholes.eventbrite.com/

See you on Thursday!

The difficulty of choosing classes however was that I was never able to visualize what my tentative schedule was going to be.  I wanted to be able to see how much white real estate in my daily itinerary I could create but rather than allowing my computer to do it I had to visualize everything in my head or sometimes even write it out on paper with a pen.

And that’s where Schedr comes in (pronounced Skeder… I know, I know the German speakers are confused, me too!).  Schedr is a visual course scheduling tool.  Rather than manually inputting classes into your Google Calendar to to visualize your semester, Schedr takes care of that for you.  Listen to Tom explain more about his company in this week’s Pre Show.



Course scheduling is a pain. See how Schedr makes it easy in their tutorial video.

This week we are heading to Microsoft NERD center.  If you have never been then you definitely need to check it out!

I do need everyone to register so you can get access to the building so please grab a free ticket below.

Free Ticket

Thursday 9/17/2009
6:45PM to 9:30PM
One Memorial Drive
Cambridge, MA 02142

Take the Red Line to Kendall and it’s on the inbound side of Cambridge Street.

Microsoft New England Research & Development Center

The Microsoft New England Research & Development Center is a new research and software innovation campus located in the heart of Cambridge, Massachusetts. This new campus is home toMicrosoft Research New England, Microsoft Startup Labs, Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) and other product teams from across Microsoft.

Visit us at www.MicrosoftCambridge.com or follow us on Twitter.

This week’s company Green Vans does just that catering to bands who are touring the US.

Grab your ticket here!

I spoke to Andy Reitz, founder of Green Vans to learn more about his company and how he is disrupting the music scene.

Pokin’ Holes Pre Show EP19 from Cort Johnson on Vimeo.

This week’s show will be at Vinalia located in Downtown Crossing.

6:45PM to 10:00PM
101 Arch St
Boston, MA 02110

We also have a special treat this week because we feel that everyone in the Dart community deserves a special something (so long as you’re over 21).  After Vinalia around 10:00pm we will be heading to Whiskey Park for some free Veev and Sodas.  If you haven’t had Veev Vodka yet it is this great new Vodka made from the Acai berry and it tastes absolutely fantastic. So click the link below to get your free drink on Thursday!

Buy Your Friend (yourself) a Veev!

SlouchBack is the remedy to all college kids’ neck and back injuries.  A SlouchBack inflates to turn a dorm bed into a comfortable couch.  Plus it even has cup holders… bonus!

I sat down with Jeff Seibert and co-founders Andy Goetting and Tyler Price to learn more about the SlouchBack and how the roll out of their product is doing during the back to school rush in Boston.  Check out the Pre-Show with Jeff below…

Grab your ticket to this week’s show…

Our panel this week includes…

Marcus Andrews – Social Media Associate in Health Care. I have my finger on the pulse of online marketing and communications.

Sian-Pierre Regis – Editor-in-Chief, Swagger:New York/Swagger: Paris. All around happy do-gooder.

Ashli Stempel – Journalism. Media. Music. Entrepreneurship. Change. Modern Art. Style. Ambition. Self-discipline.

If you want to get in touch with the SlouchBack guys hit them up on twitter… @slouchback

This week we will be at Vintage Lounge in the Financial District.

6:45pm to 11:00pm
72 Broad Street
Boston, MA 02110

See you all on Thursday night!

Get your free ticket to the show!

Tim and I talked about his company in this week’s Pre Show.  I asked him about how he’s currently monetizing, who his target market is, how he differentiates from the competition (of which there is a lot!) and where he wants Fool’s Folley to be in 6 months time.

This week’s panel includes:

Aaron O’Hearn – I’m an entrepreneur looking to connect people and create something exciting. The ocean and traveling are both really awesome too.

Matt Rubin – Part time hacker, full time entrepreneur enthusiast

Stu Foster – Principal at The Lost Jacket and Strategist at Mullen. I heart PR, marketing and social media.

We hope you can join us on Thursday night at 6:45PM at Vlora.

545 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

If you haven’t been to Vlora before it is located on the corner of Clarendon and Boylston below street level.  Look for the glass railing which encompasses the stairs down to the restaurant.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday!