polyglotte startup story

STORY

#mystartupstory © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

Life,

I know from experience...

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is a crooked street.

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My invention,

the olyKeyboard, illustrates this truth.

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It sprang from a lucky accidentin my life’s journey...

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...which has been a diverse one geographically, linguistically and culturally.

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The idea first came to me a little after returning to the U.S. from France and Berlin, where I'd studied the German language and interned in art galleries.

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I thought:

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“Why are there so many keyboard layouts in the world?”

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That's when it hit me.

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I would invent a multilingual keyboard for polyglots, like myself!

Daniela Semeco

Founder/CEO

Polyglotte Inc. © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

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I had my heart set on San Francisco.

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I'd never been to the West or even seen the Pacific Ocean, didn't know anybody there—all I knew was that I was destined to go.

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I'd managed to sell some odds and ends and come up with $250.

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My dad thought I was crazy,

but finally agreed to buy me a one-way ticket, (which was all he could afford).

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On March 28 2011, I  left for San Francisco with $250 and a dream.

Image courtesy of Riad Djabri © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

For two and a half months I rode the couch-surfing wave before settling into my own place in San Francisco.

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Luckily, I had my dad...

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...to show me how the mind of a techie works.

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He built the first prototype and installed it on my computer.

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We worked for months improving the product, and I was able to add more and more languages.

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I was experiencing a lot of challenges at the time.

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I'd embraced local politics and become a freegan (someone who lives for free).

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I’d hooked up with Food Not Bombs and was eating for free, putting every penny I made towards the business.

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A local street kid designed my first logo.

Image courtesy of Facebook © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

He was living on a roof when I met him, and I took him in and paid him in food and beer. To this day, he calls me “Momma.”

#mommabear © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

I founded Polyglotte Inc. as a benefit corporation on Jan. 1, 2013.

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Shortly after, we were approved by Legal Services for Entrepreneurs, a program offered by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

Thanks to them, we now have many pro bono attorneys!

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On June 14 2013

we released the beta version of our product.

Image courtesy of Renee Jones © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

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We released our iPad app on October 31st 2013.

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Now we've built a physical keyboard!

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It’s been an adventure bootstrapping and getting to where we are today.

Image courtesy of Renee Jones © Polyglotte Inc. 2014

We're preparing a Kickstarter campaign, a launch party, and a keyboard exhibit.

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Details to be

announced!

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Twitter: polyglotte_sf

www.polykeyboards.com © Polyglotte Inc. 2014