a>m ventures invests in Work for Pie

Online service for software developers answers need

MEMPHIS, Tenn (Sept. 16, 2011)—Digital startup company Work for Pie, based in Memphis, has completed a deal with investment company a>m ventures, also based in Memphis, and is soon to benefit from the creative capital it needs to fuel the company's aggressive growth plan.

Work for Pie is an online service (www.workforpie.com) that helps software developers validate their skills and experience and share that information with others.

While sites like LinkedIn focus on self-reported information, Work for Pie pulls data from several developer-centric tools and websites to provide a holistic picture of a person's contributions, work history and expertise.

From the information gathered, users receive their Work for Pie Score as well as a comparison of their scores to other programmers. The service also provides insights to members on how to improve their scores.

Other benefits of the service include tools to facilitate collaboration with other members. It will eventually provide job listings and candidate search tools to recruiters.

Only 90 days after launching, Work for Pie has validated the business model, nearing 1,500 users with little marketing, according to Cliff McKinney, co-founder of the company. "Our specialized services just for developers have answered a need from coast to coast, and it's apparent in our adoption rate."

"Our early success shows that we've clearly struck the right chord in the developer community. With the strategic marketing and brilliant design and user experience work that a>m ventures and its affiliated marketing communications agency archer>malmo bring to the table, it just blows me away to imagine what's possible," said McKinney.

For a>m ventures, Work for Pie matches the ideal profile of a founding team. McKinney holds an MBA and heads the business development side of the business, while Brad Montgomery focuses his 10 years of development experience to work on the technical side. The co-founders have established a reputation for hard work and determination in the Memphis startup community, according to Russ Williams, a>m ventures chief executive officer.

"We've come to realize that founders of startups are as important - if not more important - than the business idea," said Williams. "We're enthusiastic about supporting the hard work and smart thinking we've already seen from Cliff and Brad."

Patrick Woods, director of a>m ventures, noted that answering a need is at the heart of every successful business. "Great entrepreneurs are ruthless in seeking-out a great idea and we believe Work for Pie is solving a big need," said Woods.

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about Work for Pie:

Work for Pie helps developers build portfolios that showcase their open source code from Github and Bitbucket and their participation in communities like Stack Overflow and Hacker News. The data is then boiled down to a simple score - something that celebrates and challenges great open source work and helps companies identify great software developer talent. www.workforpie.com

about a>m ventures:

a>m ventures invests creative capital in early-stage digital businesses. It is focused on helping digital entrepreneurs achieve success more quickly by leveraging the marketing and digital expertise of archer>malmo. For more information, go to www.amventures.co

about archer>malmo:

archer>malmo is the largest marketing communications agency in Tennessee and one of the largest in the Southeast. Founded in 1952, the agency represents many national brands, including Terminix, Kraft, American Snuff Companies, Medtronic, and AutoZone. Services include:

archer>malmo - advertising, strategic planning, brand development and design services. www.archermalmo.com
lifesize – digital marketing services. www.lifesizeinteractive.com
archer>malmo public relations. www.archermalmopr.com
tangerine - direct marketing services. www.tangerinedm.com
smash - experiential marketing services. www.smashexp.com
TMB Marketing Group - retail advertising and promotion services. www.tmbmarketinggroup.com