Splash LA 2012 Top 10 Finalist - Yatown

Kristin Karaoglu · August 27, 2012 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/2973

Check out Yatown's pitch in the Splash LA 2012

Splash La finalist Yatown lets neighbors connect to find out what’s going on in their neck of the woods. The startup currently operates in 193,000 neighborhoods in 25 cities nationwide. Here's a video of Christopher Nguyen presenting.

Yatown is a social network for neighborhoods. It helps you keep up with the place you care most about. Where you live.

Do you want to present on stage in front of 350 high-tech influencers and try your shot at being Splash SF September Winner? Splash is free to enter. And, it's great marketing and exposure, along with some fun prizes, like sit-down meetings with VCs, an Apple iPad, free legal and accounting consultations, and more.

Even though success is not defined by how much money a company has raised, past Vator winners, such as Thumbtack, Getable, Grovo, Astrid, Udemy, and Geeklist have gone on to raise millions of dollars collectively from venerable VCs, soon after presenting.

Here's some testimonials:

"The process of inviting everyone one we knew to vote for us, even before the event, was a fantastic way to build support for our company. Then presenting at Vator Splash was a blast. The short presentation style ensured the audience was engaged and the follow-up questions from the judges were on-point and constructive. At Vator Splash, I made great connections with a number of investors and had a number of follow-up meetings. We were able to raise our last round entirely from investors who discovered us from the publicity we generated from Vator Splash," said Jon Paris, CEO and founder of Astrid.

"Working with Vator, and Bambi, is a pleasure. She's really passionate about uniting great ideas with the right people. We actually tied for first in last years Vator Splash SF and as a direct result raised $150,000 from an investor who saw us pitch. TEEC Angels approached us right at the event and invested soon thereafter. Reuben Katz, CEO and founder of Geeklist.

"Vator has acted as a launchpad for my startup in terms of awareness and exposure. As a winner of a Vator competition, my startup enjoyed early traction and buzz. Vator has kept my business relevant in the minds of investors, entrepreneurs and potential employees. I've made many invaluable connections to the investor and entrepreneur community." Tim Hyer, founder and CEO, Getable.

"DogVacay.com won Vator Splash LA in June 2012. The competition allowed us an opportunity to meet and pitch against some of the great Los Angeles startups and further foster our entrepreneurial community. There was such a positive energy with so many great minds providing insightful feedback throughout the night. Two paws up, Vator!" Aaron Hirschhorn, founder & Top Dog, Dog Vacay

"Events like Vator Splash are critical for startups to generate awareness. We were a top 10 finalist for Splash LA. It provided us with an amazing opportunity to network and gain exposure to a whole community of investors and VCs. Soon after, we raised $3M as a result of the momentum/exposure from the event and the platform in general." Peter Vogel, founder of Plink.

Join the Splash competition here.

Kristin Karaoglu

Woman of many skills: Database System Engineer; SplashX event producer; Author of Startup Teams

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Yatown

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on March 4, 2012

What's Happening Where You Live?

Yatown is The Trusted Neighborhood Network. Yatown helps you keep up with everything about the place you care most about. Where you live.

We've been called "The Facebook of Neighborhoods". AdWeek singled out Yatown in "One of the 4 Key Trends to watch in 2012". Covering 193 thousand neighborhoods in 25 thousand cities across America, Yatown gives neighbors instant access to neighborhood-level news, events, deals, and messaging with other neighbors.

The Yatown team includes long-time former Googlers, with successful entrepreneurial exits. Yatown is backed by TiE Angels, NarraVC, and a group of experienced SV executives.

Our goal is to provide the best Local-Social experience for people who live in any neighborhood in America. Our long-term mission is "To Connect Neighbors and Strengthen Communities".

Christopher Nguyen

Joined Vator on March 4, 2012

CEO & Co-Founder of Yatown, The Trusted Neighborhood Network. Venture-backed CEO, 2 successful exits as co-founder, former engineering director at Google. BS UC Berkeley, PhD Stanford.