April – Innovator
Clowd Lab LLC, an engineering and software firm at our International Plaza location is our Innovator feature this month. Eddie Arpin, Alec Gorjestani and Arvind Menon, former research engineers from the Intelligent Vehicles Laboratory at the University of Minnesota are the team of innovators who started Clowd Lab. Learn more about how Clowd Lab creates tomorrow’s solutions with today’s technology visit them at www.clowd-lab.com and read on to learn more about Eddie Arpin!
1) What would you like people to know about you and your business? We are a new company that provides mobile software development and engineering consultation. Clowd Lab was formed by researchers at the University of Minnesota who are interested in mobile and embedded systems. We get excited about solving real-world problems by integrating hardware and software into intelligent systems.
2) Where did you get the idea for your business? On the golf course, of course! We have some good ideas for consumer mobile applications that we are currently developing and knew of some companies in need of our services before we even started. We were blessed with a great start.
3) What makes your business unique? Our collection of skills that we acquired from years of building custom research tools and systems has really been an advantage for us. You really have to be a “Jack of all trades” when working in a small group that needs to solve big problems.
4) What is your ‘elevator speech’? What do you need?
5) What are the keys to your success? Hard work, patience and a little creativity.
6) What is the one piece of advice you’d like to give to others about running a business? You get out what you put in. Lame cliché I know.
7) How long have you been at OffiCenters? Which location? We’ve been here since November of last year at the International Plaza location in Bloomington.
8) How has your relationship with OffiCenters changed your business? The coffee in the lunchroom has kept us energized and coding all day!
9) If you could work from anywhere under the sun, where would you choose? Probably a mix between mountain towns in Colorado and San Diego.
10) Tweet, Blog, LinkedIn, Facebook? Check us out on LinkedIn.
11) What piece of technology can you not live without? I guess I have to say mobile phones.
12) What is one of your favorite quotes? Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one – Bill Gates.
13) Who has been an inspiration in your life? My Mom. She worked really hard to make our family’s life comfortable.
14) When you have 30 minutes of free time, how do you use it? Sitting on the couch wondering why I have free time and what I’m forgetting to do.
15) If you had a long weekend with unlimited funds, where would you go? Europe.
16) If you could be any fictional character, whom would you choose and why? Probably Superman. Flying would be pretty great, and it would let me get to Europe faster on my unlimited funds weekend.
17) What is your favorite restaurant in Minnesota? Masu in Northeast is pretty great.
18) What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life? Oh wow! I don’t think I can answer that one.
19) If you could paint a picture what would you paint and why? Watercolor abstract art. It would be about nothing, but I’d be interested in hearing what people think it means.
20) What is the best way for people to find out more about you and your business? Check out our website http://www.clowd-lab.com, or stop by and chat, we are in Suite 286 at the International Plaza location in Bloomington.
