Scott Case – the other Case in D.C. tech, not related to Revolution's Steve – has been making ripples in the local startup hub lately without even trying. Tech Cocktail first brought the Priceline.com founder and leader of the Obama-backed Startup America Partnership back into the public spotlight earlier this week when they discovered an AngelList page for something called the Main Street Genome. On the otherwise unheard of startup's profile, it listed Case as the co-founder – with former Zaarly CEO Eric Koester – of the early-stage company that they were "quietly and actively building."
But things are quiet no more – word has gotten out and people want to know what Case's secretive new startup is all about. From first look, it's apparent – both in name and its brief description – the venture will aim to invigorate the small business, "Main Street" economy and those involved in it through studying its DNA (hence the "genome"). Currently, there is a team of seven in addition to the co-founders. Moreover, the startup already has a website, though its current function is only as a landing page with a logo, an email address and a phone number. There's also a LinkedIn profile, which unearths some more details. For instance, in its description, the purpose of Main Street Genome is more thoroughly explained as the attempt to understand the functioning of small businesses so as to "reduce their failure rates and drive better results for the millions of business owners that fuel our economy" (doesn't that just scream small business data analytics software?).
And on the subject of data, it's also interesting to point out that Main Street Genome will be managed and operated by the team behind Data Collateral, Inc., according to the LinkedIn page. Looking for any online trace of Data Collateral, though, will only lead you on a similar wild goose chase. Its landing page has an identical format to that of Case's startup. And on its LinkedIn – well it says Data Collateral is trying to solve the same issue with the Main Street economy. The brand new IT company will seemingly act as the backbone to Main Street Genome, which will likely be the B2B software, tools and solutions part of the operation – but that's just speculation.
Apparently when you're as big a name as Scott Case, teasing information about a new venture is a successful strategy for building buzz (the Washington Business Journal also tried to wrap its head around what Case might have up his sleeve). In early 2014, Main Street Genome will begin trickling out to businesses "in areas including restaurants and hospitality, medical and dental offices, residential and commercial construction, and wholesalers and distributors." But what kind of tools or solutions the startup will be offering and how it will be developing insights about the small businesses, for now we have no clue.
