Lightning Pitch: Slope

COMPANY: Slope

ELEVATOR PITCH:

Dropbox for media content.

PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION:

Slope is a cloud-based platform for marketing and creative teams to store, organize, and collaborate on video and other media projects.

In an effort to help grow their business, companies are producing more videos, graphics, and images than ever before. Currently, marketing and creative teams are using external hard drives, cloud storage, endless email exchanges, and a dozen other tools to hack together a process for creating content. This is inefficient, complicated and expensive.

Slope makes it simple and efficient to manage content by facilitating collaboration, integrating with existing workflows and supporting media files. It is our mission to make media accessible and collaborative, so that businesses of all sizes can produce amazing content.

The Slope team is comprised of experienced marketers, creatives and technology experts. We have a deep background in media production and content marketing, and are passionate about building a solution that changes how marketing and creative teams produce content.

Slope is part of two fast growing, vibrant tech communities—Venture for America and the Quicken Loans Family of companies. Brian and Dan were part of the first class of Venture for America—a program for aspiring entrepreneurs to spend two years working at startups in emerging markets (like Detroit). This program now includes over 200 fellows, and a network of advisors, investors, and supporters that span the United States and beyond. Slope was a part of the Bizdom Detroit Accelerator, which is part of The Quicken Loans Family of Companies. This network contains over 100 companies throughout the country, including the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rock Ventures, and has a strong culture of collaboration.

FOUNDERS:

Brian Bosche is the co-founder and CEO of Slope. He was on the leadership team at Bizdom Detroit, the startup accelerator founded by Dan Gilbert, where he worked with portfolio companies on customer development, sales and marketing, customer success, and investment. Brian also was a co-founder of Startup Effect, an entrepreneurship education organization that connects businesses leaders with students in Detroit and New Orleans. Startup Effect now operates in more than three cities and has become a sustainable organization. Brian was in the original class of Venture for America fellows, and is a Dartmouth alumnus.

Dan Bloom is the co-founder and COO of Slope. Prior to founding Slope, Dan worked as the director of business development at Dónde, a mobile shopper marketing startup that came out of The Brandery Accelerator (in Cincinnati). Dan also worked as the director of implementation at BlackbookHR, an award-winning HR tech company. He also spent time fundraising for his alma mater and as the assistant wrestling coach. Dan was in the original class of Venture for America Fellows, and is a Wesleyan University alumnus.

Before developing Slope, Brian and Dan built and grew a profitable media production company, TernPro, that worked with over 60 clients. With clients like Quicken Loans, MIT Sloan School of Management, YMCA, Bank Negara Malaysia, Microsoft, and 4EG, TernPro reached profitability in its first year. Slope was developed after Brian and Dan experienced first hand the problems of creating and managing media content with businesses. TernPro developed great relationships with clients, which are now converting to Slope users and continue to be valuable partners in testing and providing feedback on the product.

HEADQUARTERS: Detroit, Michigan