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AJ Nelson: It doesn’t take money to find your users, make them happy
(Guest post by AJ Nelson) Running a startup is pretty insane when you don’t have money. You really are forced to focus on what matters. It’s not spending money on Facebook ads, Google AdWords, mobile app install ads, outsourced firms, email marketing—it’s none of that. There’s no silver bullet here that is going to build…
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ClusterFlunk raises $1M round led by Lightbank, opens Chicago office
Earlier this year, ClusterFlunk expanded its platform to more than 50 universities across the country. Now the company is growing its investor connections across state lines to the Windy City. The Iowa City-based startup announced Tuesday it closed a $1 million round of funding led by Chicago-based venture capital firm Lightbank. Local early-stage fund, Built…
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ClusterFlunk surpasses 10K users, reveals 54 schools for January launch
Less than a year after its official launch, Iowa startup ClusterFlunk—a virtual meeting place that allows college students to collaborate on assignments and prepare for exams—has grown its user base exponentially and is preparing for a national launch come January…
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Become a life-long learner
(Guest post by Joe Dallago and AJ Nelson of clusterFlunk) Education is something we are very passionate about at clusterFlunk. Passionate enough to take our “leap of faith,” and completely ditch the typical route of higher learning that most teens and early twenty-somethings feel they have to take in order to succeed. Passionate enough to…
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clusterFlunk announces plans to add 50 major universities in new semester
This afternoon Iowa City, Iowa-based startup clusterFlunk announced via Facebook that its services will be scaling to 50 major universities beginning in January. “The decision to scale to the number 50, was in regards to our runway and size of team,” co-founder AJ Nelson told Silicon Prairie News. “We feel with our current team and…
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Dwolla founder blogs about recent investment in clusterFlunk
On his personal blog Monday, Dwolla founder Ben Milne wrote about why he chose to invest in Iowa City startup clusterFlunk. “The founders are worth following just to see what happens,” Milne wrote of co-founder AJ Nelson and Joe Dallago…
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ClusterFlunk closes $100K seed round, looks to expand team
Iowa City startup ClusterFlunk has closed a $100,000 seed round. “We received funding from strategic investors who will help us get to the next level in our company and product operations,” co-founder AJ Nelson said in a press release. Nelson and co-founder Joe Dallago began ClusterFlunk, a virtual meeting place that allows college students to…
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ClusterFlunk founders take “leap of faith,” leave school to build company
Six months ago Iowa City-based startup clusterFlunk was little more than an idea. Now co-founders Joe Dallago and AJ Nelson have stopped attending the University of Iowa to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. “We are working on clusterFlunk full time and are excited about it,” Nelson said. “It was cool to take our ‘leap of faith,’…