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ECONOMY

PROFESSIONALS

A Dreidel App? Yes, You Now Have Seen Everything!

Mobile app business introduces virtual dreidel in time for the holidays.

By Jackie Headapohi

bowl of fruit sits in the center of West
Bloomfield resident Roy Krauthamer's
kitchen table. Fascinatingly unremark-
able yet the mundane centerpiece was the
muse that spurred creation of his mobile
application business, Captain Moustache.
"It was a joke actually," Krauthamer
said when he and his friend, and business
partner, Michael Weinstein of Bloomfield
Hills were discussing the booming mobile
applications industry."I told
him I could create a mobile
app about a bowl of fruit
that people would actually
buy."Weinstein dared him,
so he did.
"Simple Fruit Bowl," an
app that allows users to
create their own virtual fruit
bowls, was born. "It's self-
admittedly the dumbest
Roy Krauthamer
thing out there, but people
bought it," Krauthamer said.
"That was enlightening."
Barry Zate, a sales executive in West
Bloomfield, was among the people who
bought that Simple Fruit Bowl app. "I
thought it was funny, so I downloaded it
to my iPad," he said."... Then my 5-year-old
daughter started playing with it and had a
blast!"
The mobile app industry has experi-
enced explosive growth and is the market

is expected to grow to $17.5 billion by
2012. Also, Apple has made it easy for
people to develop and sell a product
through their store, said Krauthamer,
whose background is in software develop-
ment. Having been out of work for eight
months during the beginning of the reces-
sion, he was looking to start a business.
"In order to provide security to my family,
I knew I ultimately needed to be my own
boss," he said.
Krauthamer and Weinstein
decided to strike out and
launch their own mobile apps
business.The name Captain
Moustache came from a nick-
name given to Krauthamer
after a picture of him in his
younger days came to light
on Facebook.
"When Mike and I were
trying to figure out names
for the company, we knew
we could have some fun with it, so Captain
Moustache it is," Krathamer said.
His partner also recognizes that the
concept they have developed is more
light-hearted than other apps.
"I think that the process of taking an
idea from a mere thought to a full blown
product which has customers across the
globe is truly phenomenal,"Weinstein said.
"We aren't curing cancer here, but I hon-

estly believe that what we have
here can bring some sunshine
into someone's [life]."
The partners followed up the Simple
Fruit Bowl app with the "Simple Pumpkin
Face," which allows users to create their
own virtual jack o'lanterns. "We're trying
to create a franchise of simple products —
basically virtual sticker books — themed
around holidays;' Krauthamer said.
Their third product, the Dreidel HD app
for I-Pad, is a bit different. It's a full game,
familiar to any Jewish kid who remembers
spinning the Dreidel on their grandma's
floor with a stack of gelt in front of them.
"We were surprised that no one else had
created a virtual game you could actu-
ally play," he said. Zate, the app customer
whose daughter loves 'Simple Fruit Bowl,'
said he recently downloaded the 'Dreide'
app for his daughter, too.
"Trying to spin a dreidel when you are
five is pretty tough — not to mention
keeping score — all of the frustration of
playing is gone7Zate said, adding that he
thinks it's novel that his daughter is tying
her Jewish heritage to an app.
Weinstein echoes his customer's senti-
ment, noting the generational differences
in how today's youth approach all aspects
of life, including their religion."Dreidels
used to be made of clay, then plastic, and
now they are made of pixels;' he said.

After sev-
eral kid-centered
focus groups, where it
proved to be a hit, Cap-
tain
Moustache put the app on
sale in November. Within days a number
had been sold in the U.S. as well as in
Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa,
Great Britain, France and Canada.
Word of mouth is helping drive sales as
well. "There's a really tight bond in Jewish
community;' Krauthamer said. "Word ends
up getting around."
The company is also heavily promoting
its products on Facebook. "We have a lot of
fun with our Facebook page;'Krauthamer
said. "We have only three apps so in
order to get sales we have to keep people
engaged and interacting with Captain
Moustache activities, such as 'Guess the
'stache. "
Both Krauthamer and Weinstein still
have day jobs, but every spare moment
is dedicating to growing their company,
whether it's developing new apps, finding
a new moustache for the Facebook page
or interacting with customers.
Captain Moustache will soon be releas-
ing its next app, "Simple Christmas."
"People will be able to decorate a Christ-
mas scene, but don't be surprised if we
add some weird or unexpected elements
as well;' Krauthamer said. RT

THE ROUNDUP

Economic Briefings

Michigan Political Landscape
Turns Red
Voters in the Nov. 2 election ushered
in a new era in Michigan politics and
elected Republican Rick Snyder in a
landslide. Republicans, who won huge
majorities in the Michigan Legislature,
are promising to work with both Gov.-
elect Rick Snyder and the Democrats to
balance the state budget and improve
the business climate. New Senate Major-
ity Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe,
said Republicans' priorities include
reforming the state budget process
and eliminating the Michigan Business
Tax. Rep. Richard Hammel, D-Flushing,
succeeds House Speaker Andy Dillon
(selected by Snyder to be the next state
treasurer) as the House Democratic
leader. Hammel said partisanship should
not be a barrier to fixing the state's bud-
get problems.

Brace Yourself For Smaller Paychecks
Workers will pay more in payroll taxes
beginning in January if Congress doesn't
act quickly to extend the Bush-era tax
cuts. The Internal Revenue Service will
have to assume the Bush tax cuts will ex-
pire as it prepares withholding schedules
for 2011, meaning higher payroll deduc-
tions for employees beginning with
the new year. According to calculations
by the Tax Institute at H&R Block, that
means a married couple earning $80,000
would lose $221.48 in withholding from
a semi-monthly paycheck. Even if the
tax cuts were passed in late December,
it would still take the IRS at least two or
three weeks to update payroll tables.

Michigan Economy On Rebound
Several recent economic reports show
that Michigan finally may be clawing
its way out of the recession. Comerica
Bank's Michigan Economic Activity
Index rose two points in September to

16

December 2010 I

RED THREAD

a level of 89, the highest index reading
since June 2008. Also, the Southeast
Michigan Purchasing Managers Index
was up for the eighth straight month in
October, indicating sustained improve-
ment in Metro Detroit's economy. These
promising reports come with news that
the pace of downsizing is the lowest it's
been in a decade, according to out-

placement consultants Challenger, Gray
& Christmas. "The Michigan economy
should continue to make modest gains
over the last quarter of 2010 against a
background of sluggish but sustained
national growth;' predicted Dana John-
son, chief economist at Comerica Bank.

State Welcomes Sunday-Morning
Liquor Sales
State lawmakers were able to com-
promise with Gov. Jennifer Granholm on
a deal to allow Sunday- morning liquor
sales in the state. The new law allows
Sunday liquor sales to begin at 7 a.m. for
retailers paying an extra $160 annual fee.
Local governments will have the option
to continue banning Sunday-morning
alcohol sales if they choose.

Optimism About Future At
Five-Year High
According to Michigan State Univer-
sity's latest State of the State Survey,
Michigan residents haven't been this
optimistic about the future in nearly five
years. Charles Ballard, MSU Professor of
economics, said the optimism is likely
due to a slight improvement in the state
economy but also because residents
just seem ready to believe after years of
tough times. "It was a tough decade for
Michigan," Ballard said, "and in a sense
it's really important psychologically for
people to believe things will get better.
And that can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you're convinced that all is lost, it's
hard to get out of bed and do what you
need to do."

Michigan Gets Funding For
High-Speed Rail
Michigan will receive $161.1 million
for high-speed rail projects from the
Federal Railroad Administration's High-
Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program.
The grants are expected to support at

least 1,200 jobs. The largest grant, for
$150 million, will be used to improve
rail services along a 135-mile section of
track between Dearborn and Kalamazoo
as soon as next summer. "High-speed rail
puts Michigan on the track to the future
in transportation, providing travelers
with better, faster and more reliable
passenger rail service across Michigan
from Detroit to Chicago;' said Sen. Carl
Levin, D-Mich., in a statement."Develop-
ing a high-speed rail line from Dearborn
to Kalamazoo is critical to the establish-
ment of the Chicago-Detroit-Pontiac
high-speed rail corridor."

Energy Excellence Projects
Announced
Michigan continues to add mojo to its
"green economy."Two new clean energy
projects were approved under the
Centers of Energy Excellence (COEE)
program. The Michigan Strategic Fund
board approved a COEE designation and
$6 million in funding
for Dow Corning
to establish the
Solar Valley
Research En-
terprise (SVRE)
in the Midland
area. The board
also approved a
COEE designation and
$3 million in funding for Metamora-
based Grid Logic, which will collaborate
with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to
develop a fault current limiter to shore
up the power supply in the event of a
major disruption to the energy grid. Grid
Logic estimates the U.S. market will need
thousands of units per year over the
next 20 years. The company expects to
create 200 direct jobs at its facility within
five years. RT

— By Jackie Headphol

www.redthreadmagazine.com