Sparked is led by two Stanford friends (Ben and Joseph) who started companies back during the Web 1.0 days and reconnected years later to build a micro-volunteering app, bringing together years of mobile, social, and international startup experience from their careers.

Ben and Joseph adapted their micro-volunteering platform to pioneer Sparked’s Customer Teams concept, enabling brands to organize, deploy and reward their customers as team members who can actively contribute to brand success. The Customer Teams platform creates online communities wherein customers can make meaningful contributions to the brands they love through interactive activities in a gamified environment. Optimized for mobile and accessible via Facebook or Web browser, Sparked brings social engagement into the mobile era.

BusinessInterviews.com: Where does your passion for social responsibility come from?

Paul Sheng co-founded FoundHere, Inc in 2013. Previously, he was a partner at Bain & Company, an international strategy consulting firm, where he was a co-founder of the private equity group. Earlier in his career he worked at McKinsey & Company, in Hong Kong, helping multi-nationals develop growth strategies in the region. Paul has a BA, MA from Oxford University and an MBA from Stanford University. Founded in 2013, FoundHere.com enables users to easily build and maintain a fully functioning website for free, including design templates, hosting, and built-in search engine optimization. The intuitive website service offers hundreds of professionally designed templates that are organized by specific markets for easy selection, as well as search engine tools, drag and drop editing, and content customization through widgets and flexible content blocks.

BusinessInterviews.com: How did you come up with the concept behind FoundHere.com?

John O’Brien launched O’Brien Metal after 20 years in corporate America. Despite the difficult economic conditions, O’Brien Metal has profitably grown and established itself as a key player in this industry over the past six years. John O’Brien is a proven business builder, prior to joining Fair Isaac Corp. he was a founding member of Braun Consulting Inc. out of Chicago (Fair Isaac purchased Braun Consulting in 2004) and as a Sr. Leader helped grow the firm from five employees to over 600 – including an IPO in 1999 and market valuation of over $500 million.

Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 2007 O’Brien Metal is made up of digital & artisanal metal fabrication and renovation experts who understand the relationship between design and function, shape and finish. Together with some of the country’s most notable architects, designers, and landscape architects, they have been crafting beautiful interiors and striking exteriors throughout Chicago and New York. The company employs a diverse group of Architectural Detailers, Fabricators, Artists, Metal Technicians, Restorers, Finishing Experts, and Forging and Casting Professionals. They are experts at working with specialty metals such as bronze, brass, nickel, silver, gold leaf, copper, stainless steel, and aluminum. The company is also a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago, AIA New York, Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), American Institute of Conservators (A IC) and American Preservation Technology (APT).

BusinessInterviews.com: What inspired to your decision to leave your long and successful corporate career to launch O’Brien Metal?