Success Formulates at The Speak Easy

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Writer / Kara Reibel

The Speak Easy was established to provide startups a unique office space fostering collaboration, creativity and growth. Spaces such as these are gaining in popularity, creating unique opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs. App Press and InnovateMap both utilized the Speak Easy during their early growth stages.

Five years prior to the launch of App Press, co-founder Grant Glas worked in art direction. Intimately familiar with Photoshop when the iPad was released, he was excited about the possibilities of an application on the iPad but found learning coding to be challenging. “I am the creative guy,” shares Glas. “I wanted to create an app where you don’t have to write any code.”

Glas’ wife came up with the idea, suggesting an app using her grandmother’s Italian recipes. The result was The Italian Cookbook, which instantly went viral after being selected as a feature on the main homepage of the Apple app store, earning in 30 days Glas’ entire year’s salary.

In 2011, Glas moved his office from his home to The Speak Easy when it opened, quitting his day job and figured out how to work on App Press to make it marketable to fit other’s needs. It took a couple years of hard work for Glas and co-founder Kevin Smith, but App Press was launched in 2013, ready to serve the public. App Press has relocated their offices downtown.

The Speak Easy is a frequently utilized venue for Verge meetings. Verge co-founder Matt Hunkler adds, “The talent, capital, education and inspiration are right here in Indiana. You don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to build a high-growth tech company.”

InnovateMap is another example of a company emerging out of The Speak Easy.

InnovateMap is a product agency that specializes in enabling and empowering organizations with growing software products to master the roles and responsibilities of the Product function, inclusive of Product Strategy, User Experience, Product Management and Product Marketing.

Much like marketing organizations engage a marketing agency to partner on or refresh their marketing strategy and content, executives and Research & Development teams engage InnovateMap to innovate on and refresh the marketability, value and usability of their software. In short, InnovateMap helps companies dream, design and deliver outstanding products that delight their customers.

Not only has InnovateMap gathered momentum, growing to critical mass that required their own space, they unanimously decided to keep their roots in Broad Ripple.

“The vibe in Broad Ripple aligns very well to our company culture,” says InnovateMap founder Mike Reynolds. “It’s a welcoming and inspiring area for the creative side of tech, and we are able to service our clients in Indianapolis since we are strategically located.”

“It’s fun to watch these companies grow, building teams large enough to foster independence with the need for their own spaces,” says Jeb Banner, CEO/Chair of the Speak Easy. “It is our hope that companies remain members of the Speak Easy, utilizing the space differently than before.”