Decision Desk

UnCollege, the social movement started by Dale J. Stephens, which aims to change the popular notion that attending college is the only way to become successful, is now using DecisionDesk to screen applicants for its UnCollege Gap Year program. DecisionDesk, a service company that helps organizations evaluate multimedia-rich submissions, will now help facilitate the application process for the Gap Year program by enabling UnCollege to easily accept and review digital videos, applications, and recommendation letters submitted by applicants through an online portal.

The UnCollege Gap Year is designed to give people the tools to succeed in a world where having a college degree alone is no longer the competitive advantage it used to be. The program engages ten people, ages 18 to 28, in a year-long process of self-directed learning. Participants spend three months in San Francisco learning how to create individual learning plans, three months living abroad, three months pursuing a creative project, and three-months completing internships.  The idea is that the experiences and knowledge gained through the program will leave participants better equipped to succeed than if they had attended a traditional four-year college.

Though not a traditional scholastic course, there are a few requirements that prospective applicants must meet in order to obtain admittance into the Gap-Year program. They must possess extraordinary intelligence, unstoppable motivation, and an unflappable integrity. Given the limited slots offered, and the challenging nature of the program, only those who possess these qualities are considered for acceptance. Therefore, it is crucial that UnCollege reviewers be able to quickly, easily, and above all, accurately evaluate hundreds of applications to determine which applicants are truly best suited for the Gap Year program. By having candidates apply through DecisionDesk, reviewers can collaboratively evaluate all applicant submissions in one convenient location, rather than spend endless hours sorting through giant piles of DVDs and paper mailed in from all over the world. They can even keep track of their progress from individual dashboards, ensuring that everyone stays on schedule and nothing falls through the cracks.

The CEO of DecisionDesk, John Knific expressed his company’s excitement at being involved in such a unique program. “It just goes to show that there are many different paths to success,” said Knific. “The UnCollege movement is teaching people how to adapt to a changing world that rewards practical experience far more than it does theoretical knowledge. We are thrilled for the opportunity to help UnCollege locate the best and the brightest talent to take part in their amazing Gap Year program, and look forward to seeing all the amazing things that come as a result of it.”

About UnCollege and The Gap Year Program

UnCollege is a social movement started in 2010 by Dale J. Stephens, which aims to change the popular notion that attending college is the only way to become successful. The UnCollege website provides numerous resources for those who wish to define their educational paths such as forums, workshops and mentors. 

About DecisionDesk

DecisionDesk™ is a service company based in Lakewood, Ohio and Brooklyn, NY that utilizes cloud-based software to provide clients with the ability to process high volumes of applications with video by automating their application submission and review processes. John Knific, Eric Neuman and Marc Plotkin founded DecisionDesk™ in 2010. They represent over 200 organizations across the world and have processed over 58,000 applications to date.

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To learn more about UnCollege and the UnCollege Gap Year Program, visit www.uncollege.org.

To learn more about DecisionDesk™, call (888) 761-8117 or visit www.DecisionDesk.com.

DecisionDesk Media Contact:

Jessica Blaine

PR and Marketing

(888) 761-8117

Jessica.blaine@decisiondesk.com

How does a music major shift gears and start a business? Ask John Knific, pianist-turned-entrepreneur. He’s living proof of how vision, hard work, and a commitment to turning failure around to meet customer demand have resulted in success.

Knific was a double-major in biology and music at Case Western Reserve University, with plans to go to medical school. In his junior year, he had what he calls an “Aha! moment.” The rest is history. Along with Marc Plotkin, an audio recording technology/music industry guy and Eric Neuman, a software engineer, Knific started planning a business in earnest. Their original idea didn’t pan out as hoped. But the three founders listened, corrected their course, and DecisionDesk, the company that may be ensuring your recorded prescreens and auditions are seamlessly sent to music school evaluators, was born.

Knific graduated from Case Western in 2009. Today he’s CEO of DecisionDesk. He also mentors entrepreneurial students at Oberlin College, through its Creativity and Leadership Program.

Knific spoke with MajoringInMusic.com to offer his best tips to students thinking about taking the entreprenuerial route to realizing their dreams.

Can you give us a quick overview of your journey as an entrepreneur?

I caught the entrepreneurship bug in my junior year of college. I remember the night. I was sitting at my computer, frustrated with how terrible MySpace Music was, thinking there had to be a more professional way to share performances. Then it clicked: “Why don’t I make something better?” I walked over to talk to my roommate, Marc, who was studying audio recording, to share my idea. He loved it. That was the beginning of the end of my medical school career plans.

The next few years were not quite as romantic. We founders had to forgo paying jobs and graduate school. Even my music was sacrificed, as I had less and less time at the piano. We started out trying to build a social network for music students. It failed miserably. We turned our product into an online video audition tool for music schools.

This was a turning point. We began having some traction, started rapidly growing our client roster, and eventually raised seed capital from an angel investment network. Fast forward two years, I’ve raised over $2 million in venture capital, now have 15 full-time employees, work with over 100 universities, and we’re just getting started.

What are a few of the tradeoffs of starting your own business?

A big tradeoff is the amount of time it takes to start your own business. It’s a long-term investment. Most entrepreneurs can’t pay themselves very much when the business starts, and you’ll put in many more hours than if you were working a “normal” job. The benefit is that it’s an investment in yourself and what you’re passionate about. I can’t see myself doing anything else right now.

What’s one of the most important things you learned as a music major that you can apply to being an entrepreneur?

Structuring your time in the practice room and setting goals is important. This relates to entrepreneurship. Early on, there are a million things you can work on at your startup. It’s very easy to keep busy, but it doesn’t mean you’re productive. I think it’s helpful to set achievable milestones like “I will call ten potential customers and get one to commit to trying my service.”

Describe some advice you’ve found helpful in starting your business that you’d like to pass on to others.

Be a good listener. It’s important early on to meet with people, build a network, and get advice.

You also need to identify who your customer is and understand their “pain points” inside out [i.e., difficult and urgent problems needing to be solved]. This process is called customer discovery, and it’s a crucial exercise before investing any time or money into your product or service.

Failure is OK! You will be told “no” frequently when starting a business. The founder of Pandora, one of the most popular internet music services, was rejected by over 300 investors when raising capital!

What’s the most common mistake the students you mentor face when thinking about starting a business?

The most common mistake is putting too much thought into how cool the idea is and not into the value for the customer. My biggest recommendation is to spend time with your potential customers and understand what will make them part with their hard-earned dollars. Solving this is the biggest hurdle. Unlike in the movie “Field of Dreams,” just because you build it, it does not mean they will come!

What about funding a new business?

Funding a startup is a complex issue. First and foremost, you have to decide if you want to bring on funding. Most startups are not a good fit for the strings that come attached to venture capital, which is intended for high growth technology companies.

You want to start by talking to people in your industry and make connections to prospective investors. It’s a learning exercise, and your initial meetings will be over coffee, lunch, or beers.  Raising capital is more of a networking exercise with the occasional formal “pitch” that involves a presentation. Most young entrepreneurs don’t realize that the networking portion is the most important part,

You’re a busy guy. How do you continue to fit music into your life?

It’s tough. Startup life can be all-consuming. My wife (a vocalist) and I still perform when possible, and play for fun at home. My classical chops aren’t what they used to be, but I still love playing. Funny enough, there are a lot of musicians working at DecisionDesk. One of these days we’ll have to put a company ensemble together!

Visit the original story at: http://majoringinmusic.com/starting-a-business-as-a-music-major/

On April 24^th 2013, Lev Gonick was elected to the Board of Directors of DecisionDesk Inc., a software-service company that simplifies application tracking for university admissions and corporate recruitment. The board chose Gonick because of his deep experience as a thought leader in the educational technology industry and his contributions to multiple successful ed-tech companies.

“As Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology at Case Western Reserve University, he transformed the school into an IT leader. Having him on our board is not only hugely validating of our technology, but will help give us insight into the future of our industry” said CEO of DecisionDesk, John Knific. ”We’re thrilled to have Lev join us. His reputation as a thought leader in the education space is second to none and he has already begun to open doors for our company. “

Gonick is a co-founder and recently named CEO of OneCommunity, an award-winning organization that created a connected community throughout Northeast Ohio through ultra broadband wired and wireless network connectivity. For over 11 years, Lev acted as Vice President for Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He currently serves on a number of other boards, including Monarch Teaching Technologies, (educational software developers for persons with autism), the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Bellefaire JCB for Children, Groundworks Dance, and Cleveland Independents (Restaurants).

“DecisionDesk is the most important workflow product after you establish admissions@yourschool.edu. The process of shaping an incoming class is part art and part science” said Gonick. “DecisionDesk provides your entire admissions team with the workflow tools to receive the most creative and innovative applications to your school. After more than 25 years in higher education, I think DecisionDesk is the perfect platform solution to allow schools to create a relationship with your prospects from day one. If that resonates with you, I know you’ll want to try DecisionDesk.”

FlashStarts Inc. runs an accelerator for those who “want to build great companies fast.” Their program admits ten teams of one-to-three success-hungry entrepreneurs, and provides them with seasoned mentors, constant feedback, customer validation, and up to $20,000 in startup capital, in exchange for 6% equity in their new companies. The participants benefit by receiving focus and guidance that can only come from the wisdom of mentors with years of experience in the creation of multiple successful companies.

But wait, there’s more: starting this year, FlashStarts is now offering a new summer apprentice program in addition to its current accelerator and intern programs. The apprenticeship concept is specially designed for solo entrepreneurs, those who want to learn about entrepreneurship, and for those without a complete team or an idea. Charles Stack, CEO of FlashStarts, explains, “We will match you up with a person who has complementary skills and with an idea that we think has legs.” It should be noted that most accelerators do not accept applicants who fall into this category. “I have been a solo entrepreneur in all of my previous startups, so it didn’t seem right that we wouldn’t accept other teams of one.” Stack says he believes that the inclusion of the apprentice concept fulfills the needs of an underserved market and further differentiates FlashStarts from other accelerators.

In order to become a participant in either program, candidates submit a media-rich application that is evaluated by a team of reviewers. This is where DecisionDesk comes in. Rather than have reviewers try to coordinate multiple schedules to conduct live interviews, or have participants mail stacks of DVDs and flash drives back and forth, candidates instead upload their videos to FlashStarts’ online application through DecisionDesk’s cloud-based platform, where reviewers can evaluate the applications and provide immediate feedback while reducing costs and turnaround time.

Stack and DecisionDesk’s CEO, John Knific, have worked closely together since being paired up a at a business competition several years ago (a competition which Knific won). Stack subsequently invested in the company and has followed its success closely ever since. So, when the FlashStarts team decided to develop an accelerator, and realized that a multi-user, multi-media application process was needed to facilitate it, DecisionDesk was the obvious choice.

DecisionDesk’s multi-reviewer flexibility along with its multi-media capability has made FlashStarts’ submission process exponentially more effective and efficient. According to Stack, the process requires the submission of two videos: a customer sales pitch and a team bio. The first video allows reviewers to determine, from a customer’s perspective, how well thought-out a business plan is, as well as gauge the team’s ability to sell it; while the second video provides reviewers with the opportunity to get to know the applicants as people. DecisionDesk’s service allows the reviewers to access these videos, evaluate them, and provide feedback. This rapid turn around is key, given that FlashStarts application process is iterative, meaning that as soon as applicants submit their plans, they begin receiving feedback, make adjustments, and resubmit their plans for more feedback. “The method of physically bringing the teams in was just a scheduling nightmare,” remarked Stack. “DecisionDesk allows our applicants to quickly create a video from their laptop and post it through the platform so that we can review it and get feedback to them in a much more efficient fashion.”

By partnering with DecisionDesk, FlashStarts reviewers will be able to evaluate more applications faster while providing higher quality feedback to each applicant, allowing the accelerator to better serve its participants while benefitting from the same time-saving and money-saving advantages that over 100 organizations already using the service have been experiencing for years. “DecisionDesk’s services can easily be used by any organization that wants to utilize a multi-reviewer multi-media application process,” said Stack, “that to us is the real sweet spot and it really does make the whole process more efficient. “

About FlashStarts

FlashStarts, Inc. operates a startup accelerator and provides services to startup CEOs, venture capital firms, and accelerator/incubator programs. The FlashStarts Startup Accelerator is a new 12-week summer program in which teams receive capital and mentorship in exchange for equity.

About DecisionDesk

DecisionDesk™ is a service company based in Lakewood, Ohio and Brooklyn, NY that utilizes cloud-based software to provide clients with the ability to process high volumes of applications with video by automating their application submission and review processes. John Knific, Eric Neuman and Marc Plotkin founded DecisionDesk™ in 2010. They represent over 100 organizations across the world and have processed over 56,000 applications to date.

To learn more about FlashStarts visit www.flashstarts.com.

To learn more about DecisionDesk visit www.decisiondesk.com.

DecisionDesk Media Contact:

Jessica Blaine

PR and Marketing

(888) 761-8117

Jessica.blaine@decisiondesk.com

http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/21/decisiondesk/

Written by Sean Ludwig

Ever had to collect thousands of applications and whittle them down to find the best hundred candidates? Universities and businesses do it all the time, and it’s not an easy task.

New York City-based DecisionDesk wants to change that. The company takes the application and selection process into the cloud, promising to make the lives of administrators a lot less stressful. And it just raised $1.75 million in new funding to keep innovating.

Here’s how it used to work: Let’s say you are a music program for a major university. You get hundreds (or maybe thousands) of video auditions when students are applying to your program. Employees at the college have to review all of these materials to select the right candidates. But most of the software used to process these materials is on-premise, so the review process is not easy to manage among remote and traveling employees.

DecisionDesk skirts all of those conventions by streamlining the process and offering its software in the cloud, making it accessible from any browser and on mobile devices through HTML5. On the back-end, everything runs on Amazon Web Services. To date, the company has processed more than 56,000 applicants, more than 200,000 files, and about 100,000 reviews.

“This opportunity presented itself when we looked at the legacy providers in the market,” DecisionDesk CEO John Knific told VentureBeat. “Some of these services aren’t even online and require you to locally store content. People are still sending DVDs and cassette tapes to these programs.”

Not only does DecisionDesk’s software streamline the application process, but it also does advanced filtering. This way, if a candidate has a major red flag (like they don’t actually play an instrument), they can be taken out of the reviewing process faster.

“We’re allowing the entire application and decision-making process happen in one product,” Knific said. “There’s big savings in time and money.”

Knific said the average amount of time saved on each application is two hours. The company’s biggest clients have as many as 5,000 applicants for a single program, which means up to 10,000 hours can be saved with each batch of applicants.

DecisionDesk is already working with a number of universities and prestigious programs, including the University of Michigan, University of Southern California, Northwestern University, Carnegie Hall, and the Fulbright Scholars Program. But much like hot research startup Qualtrics, DecisionDesk is building its roots in academia and then plans to branch out to bigger companies.

“We’d like to disrupt other areas that focus on tryouts and auditions,” Knific said. “In theory, we could replace casting agencies. We’d also like to get into HR.”

To help with its mission of making the application process easier, the company has raised new funds, which come in two parts. DecisionDesk took $1 million in capital from angel investors in Ohio and New York, led by North Coast Angel Fund. DecisionDesk also scored a $750,000 loan from the state of Ohio, called an “Innovation Ohio Fund Loan.” Combined with $400,000 in prior seed funds, the company has raised $2.15 million in funding to date.

The new funding will go toward expanding its 15-employee team and working on with new products. The company says it is discussing future funding with several VC firms.

On March 11th, DecisionDesk was approved for a $750,000 Innovation Ohio Fund Loan by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management Controlling Board. This capital will be leveraged along side $1M+ of equity investments to aggressively expand the DecisionDesk team and applicant tracking technology.

DecisionDesk is currently used by admissions and recruitment teams at over 100 universities, and has processed over 50,000 individual student applications. The DecisionDesk team, now at 16 full-time, is in the processes of releasing their third generation application manager.  With the loan funds, DecisionDesk expects to double its employee count over the next 2-3 years, expanding operations in both their Cleveland and New York City offices.

CEO, John Knific said “The State’s funding comes at a perfect time in our growth cycle. We’ve quickly become the leading provider of online audition management and are rapidly expanding as an enterprise provider for higher education institutions. We’re in this to save organizations thousands of wasted hours and dollars, help clients attract phenomenal talent, and create an awesome application experience for students.”

DecisionDesk’s current investors include North Coast Angel Fund and leading Cleveland and NYC based angels.

Ever gotten a company’s attention over Twitter? Know how to create multi-party conversations from a Facebook post? We’d like to have you.

We’re seeking a Social Media/PR intern to work out of our New York office. You’ll be engaging in meaningful dialogue with clients and users over Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and more. Our users are fast-paced and announce their feelings about our product very quickly to a wide audience. We’ll need you to help broadcast the victories, and mitigate any negativity.

Don’t have experience doing this for a company? That’s ok, send your resume to sales@decisiondesk.com for review and write something about how your social media experience in a personal or professional capacity make you perfect for this job.

This position does provide an opportunity to grow into a full time associate position. 20 hours/week minimum, Monday/Wednesday/Friday must be present in Brooklyn office, Tuesday/Thursday remote work.

This is part of a series called “Integration Highlights.” In this series, we highlight entrepreneurs and projects that use Dwolla to create new experiences, ideas and possibilities. You can find this story and others on Dwolla’s Pinterest board. Enjoy!

DecisionDesk helps colleges improve the complex application review process by allowing prospective students to add photos and videos to their applications. Check it out:

Organizations in the creative industry – like performing arts colleges for example – rely heavily on video during the admissions process when in-person interviews and auditions are not possible. As a result, the administrators at these colleges have to deal with mountains of video footage, usually sent on DVDs or via YouTube links pasted throughout thousands of emails, application forms and resumes. It’s all pretty difficult to keep track of, especially as an application is passed from reviewer to reviewer.

DecisionDesk includes a simple and trackable review flow, rich analytics, and the ability to easily include photo and video on an application – saving admissions and HR departments time and money, while also helping them find those standout students or employees.

How they use Dwolla

DecisionDesk will use Dwolla to streamline the way that they payout application fees to their partnering colleges. Currently they are using Dwolla with Ithaca College and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and are set to bring on more colleges for the fall semester.

“Dwolla was an easy choice for DecisionDesk. The logistics of managing applications for over one hundred universities is very complicated. Dwolla allows us to send application fee payments to our clients faster, easier, and cheaper.” — John Knific, co-founder & CEO

Are you a college administrator, or even an HR representative looking to revamp the way that you accept applications? Check out what DecisionDesk can do for you.

Since its founding in 2008, DecisionDesk has grown at an astounding rate. Just last week they blew through another milestone and signed their 100th client. With over 55 thousand applicants processed, more than 205 thousand files submitted and over 97 thousand reviews performed using their software (and counting) DecisionDesk is taking media -rich application submissions by storm.  What was once a small team of only four has now become a thriving company of 19… and they are still growing! In fact DecisionDesk is always looking for fresh talent to join their team as they keep getting bigger. Check out theJobs section on their website to stay up-to-date with new and exciting career opportunities. Happy Deciding Everyone!

Kent State University College of the Arts has recently partnered with DecisionDesk™ to expand the capabilities of their admissions process and further promote the high quality of students admitted to the school.

DecisionDesk™ is a software-as-a-service company that streamlines media intensive application processes by enabling colleges to accept high volumes of video auditions and video resumes online instead of through the mail. They currently manage auditions for 17 of the top 30 performing arts programs in the country.

By implementing DecisionDesk’s latest software version, V3, the Kent State University College of 
the Arts’ School of Theatre and Dance, the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music, and, summer professional programs, Porthouse Theatre, and Kent/Blossom Music Festival, will now begin digitally receiving and reviewing roughly 500-1000 auditions for Summer and Fall 2013, and beyond. The new system will eliminate wasteful materials, remove shipping costs for prospective students and reduce the school’s carbon footprint by roughly 2,675-5,350 lbs. this year alone. Until now, the aforementioned schools within the College of the Arts have utilized a traditional audition process similar to those used by many others around the country: stacks of DVDs, CDs and paperwork delivered by mail and piled 
on reviewers’ desks for evaluation.

With the rate of new applicants to Kent State steadily on the rise, it comes as no surprise that the old system would need an upgrade in order to accommodate such over-whelming interest. Over the last five years, Kent State has seen an astounding 68.3 percent increase in freshman applications. For the Fall 2012 semester alone, the total number of applications received by the Kent Campus was 21,736, compared to 12,916 freshman applications for Fall 2008.

John Knific, CEO of DecisionDesk, commented on the company’s new relationship with Kent State. “We are very excited to be working with John Crawford, dean for the College of the Arts and with one of Times Higher Education’s Top 200 Universities,” said Knific, “Kent State has an incredible arts program and we are thrilled to be a part of it. We currently employ two Kent State students, Joseph Ianni (B.F.A Visual Communication Design) and Jessica Blaine (Entrepreneurship Major), and the experience has been phenomenal. We feel very fortunate to partner with a school that produces such a great pool of talent. ”

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To learn more about Kent State University College of the Arts visit www.kent.edu/artscollege/

To learn more about DecisionDesk™, call (888) 761-8117 or visit www.DecisionDesk.com

DecisionDesk Media Contact:
Jessica Blaine
PR and Marketing
(888) 761-8117, Jessica.blaine@decisiondesk.com