Every entrepreneur wonders: “Will my startup sink or swim?” When Felix Brandon and his wife Jordan Lloyd Bookey launched Zoobean, a startup focused on children’s reading, they found themselves swimming in rough waters early on. A few months after launch, the founders were invited to pitch their business on the TV show Shark Tank.

What felt like a sinking moment turned into more than a lifeline for the fledgling business — it entirely transformed their business model. In the year that followed the Shark Tank episode, Zoobean went from a consumer subscription service to an enterprise reading program platform loved by millions of readers of all ages.

From the mouths of babes to the...

The need for speed takes on a new meaning in the face of a pandemic. With millions of lives at stake, everyone in the healthcare ecosystem, from medical facilities to laboratories to equipment manufacturers, races to do their part to help curb the spread.

With the coronavirus, the world put widespread diagnostic testing at the core of its pandemic response playbook. However, testing is only effective if the test results are accurate — a false negative could not only endanger the individual, but also their entire community.

Third-party quality assurance providers play a vital role in testing the tests. They make sure that test equipment and processes adhere to the highest standards. One...

For many of us, changing jobs seems like the best way to grow professionally or advance our careers. Not so for Edd Morgan, Senior Director of Engineering at BiggerPockets. During his first year in college, he became the startup’s first employee. Twelve years later, Edd reflects on his unusually stable career path and how he’s helped to grow the company into a thriving business with two million users.

It all started with a part-time job

In 2008, Edd began studying computer science at the University of Bournemouth in the U.K. Like many college students, he needed to find a way to make money for rent and living expenses. Edd came across a job posting from a startup that needed some...

Moving shipping containers is heavy work. Moving a traditional industry into the digital age is a different kind of heavy job. Software development agency GNAR took on the challenge and built an ops management platform for RMS Intermodal, one of the largest rail yard operators in the U.S. Their IoT solution gave RMS a data-driven view of their operations for the first time, resulting in a whole new definition of “efficiency” for the company.

Serendipity manifests a new idea

It all started at a wedding. GNAR Founder Brandon Stewart found himself chatting with Adam Gray, the son of RMS Intermodal’s President, and the conversation turned to RFID tracking. Brandon had done some work on an...

In today's global economy, English proficiency unlocks opportunity. People all over the world are motivated to improve their English skills in order to make a better life for themselves and their families. Cambly is a language education platform that helps millions of learners advance their careers by connecting them with English-speaking tutors from a similar professional background.

For many language learners, speaking is often the hardest skill to improve in a classroom setting. Conversation time is limited, and students tend to practice with each other rather than with a teacher. Some students may not have a fluent speaker available in their location. Cambly offers one-on-one...

It is never easy to know how to react, communicate, or at times, even feel, during something as heartbreaking and real as the struggles that our fellow humans face through no fault of their own. As Herokai, we stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and want to share some of our thoughts on the struggle, as well as some actions and resources that we find helpful.

We will be keeping this post updated and would love to include your voice. Please send us any thoughts that you’d like to share at: feedback@heroku.com.

“Many, if not all, of us are watching the civil rights movement taking place around the world. We are hurting, we are angry, and many of us are asking, “How...

Yesterday, I took my rusty old bike out of the basement and rode through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach and back. The 6+ mile ride may seem short to some, but for me, it was something I never thought I’d be doing just a short time ago. I’m on a roll (literally!) that started at the beginning of May when I joined the “Active Together While Apart” activity challenge.

As I wrote about in my earlier blog post, Heroku customer Active for Good is working to fight severe acute malnutrition in children around the world with a unique program here in North America. The organization runs activity challenges that inspire people to get more exercise, and simply by doing so, contribute to their...

The other day, I was sitting at my work desk feeling too sedentary, too isolated, and altogether too down about my restricted life during this coronavirus pandemic. Then, an email popped into my inbox from one of my favorite Heroku customers. Active for Good was announcing their latest activity challenge starting on May 1st. Every minute of exercise during the month of May counts towards unlocking lifesaving meals for malnourished kids. If there was ever a reason to get my sorry butt up out of my chair, this was it!

Food as prescribed medicine

To start with, Active for Good is easy to love. It’s a sister organization of MANA Nutrition, a nonprofit that manufactures ready-to-use...

Earth Day inspires millions of people around the world to take action on behalf of our beautiful planet. For some, this means getting out and volunteering for a day with an environmental group. For others, it’s about changing our daily habits to be more mindful about things like recycling, driving, or water usage. But a growing sector is taking earth-friendly action at scale. From nonprofits to NGOs to green businesses, visionary entrepreneurs are using modern technology to address Planet Earth’s very modern problems.

I often work with Heroku customers to help them share their story with the world. Along the way, I find myself constantly inspired by so many innovative apps that change...