About

The entrepreMuse
I (Aruni) am the President/Founder of Babble Soft, mother to two usually amazing kids, and an entrepreneur in my spare time!   For a variety of reasons that still aren’t fully clear I decided to take a day job in June 2008 managing Operations at the Austin Technology Incubator.

I began blogging back in May 2007 and am still surprised by how much I enjoy it.  Growing up (although I didn’t realize it until after I graduated college), I had a feeling that I eventually wanted to start and/or be a part of a small business (my first real job was a paper route at the age of 13) and used my two years at MBA school to make it happen.   As founding CEO of Isochron, I coordinated the raising of over $15 million in equity financing, closed the first $1 million in revenue, hired a bunch of people, and assembled the board.  Three CEOs after me later, I left in 2001 and swore I would never go through that high-tech start-up craziness again, but lo and behold two kids later I discovered that it is in my blood. 

Isochron was sold in 2002 after the dot com crash, so we are not even close to millionaires.  Sigh.  We are rich in life and work experience but not yet rich in dollars but I’m thinking positively!  We both learned a heck of a lot in the school of hard knocks and lived to tell the tale. 

I stayed home with both kids full time for the first six months of each of their lives.  When my son started very part time care in 2003, I went back to teaching an entrepreneurship class at The University of Texas at Austin.  Soon after, I started researching the feasibility of building web and mobile applications that can help new parents that eventually gave birth to Babble Soft.  My daughter was born a couple of years later so it wasn’t until 2007 that the beta version of Baby Insights Web/Windows Mobile application was available.  I’m only now able to test the sanity of my decision to start the company made in the middle of the night after having been woken up a million times by our son, who seemed to wake up every 3 or 4 hours until he turned 4!  Fortunately our daughter is a wonderful, beautiful sleeper!  In other words, I’m just now coming out of a sleep deprivation haze.

We are currently bootstrapping Babble Soft.  Let the fun and games begin!  We hope the many Internet savvy, mobile using new parents out there find us so we can show investors that we have cool stuff and then we can release unique, useful and fun new products faster!

I’m also fascinated about entrepreneurship and how people define success and have co-written articles on the topic of success.  You can contact me at blogger(at)babblesoft(dot)com.   I will do my best to respond, but if I’ve fallen in a trap of too much multi-tasking please know that I will make every attempt to read your email as long as it didn’t end up in my spam folder.

Why entrepreMusings?
In Greek mythology, the Muses are a sisterhood of goddesses or spirits, their number set at nine by Classical times, who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music and dance. (source Wikipedia). 

I believe that everyone has a Muse within and that entrepreneurs tend to be more aware (or shall I say less afraid) of their Muse.  I define an entrepreneur as anyone who aims to create something that did not exist before and nurtures it to a level where people are positively affected.  Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and forms from female to male, young to old, parents to business people, artists to teachers, employers to employees, etc.  There are so many factors that affect whether a person is perceived as successful or not, but the mere act of trying to make a difference is, to me, a big part of being an entrepreneur.

Our society often dismisses the entrepreneurial nature of being a parent.  I believe the most valuable thing we can contribute to our society are children who are able to positively contribute to the world.  When I talk to people about my entrepreneurial career, I say I’m on my 4th venture with two being each of my kids.  So currently, I’m responsible for the well-being of 3 ventures!

So, here on this blog I want to start the process of shifting the stereotypical image (i.e., man of means, working 80+ hours a week, not spending time with family/friends, etc.) of a financially “successful” entrepreneur to:

a)  aims to be emotionally, spiritually, and financially rich by making the proverbial market place pie bigger
b)  works hours that are compatible with a healthy personal and family life
c)  man, woman, or child of any race, color, creed, religion, orientation, etc.
d)  not aiming just to make a quick buck but a lot of meaningful bucks that empower people along the way
e)  uncompromising ethics and standards

Having been in a venture-backed, high-tech start-up during and after the dot com bubble and crash, I know the above definition is not easy to implement.  I’m sure I’ll stumble along the way with my kids and Babble Soft but as a female (muse) high-tech entrepreneur, I will keep on trying to shift the definition and reality by musing on this blog.  But I can’t do it without your help!  Let me know what you are up to and I’d love to try to incorporate your stories into blog posts for others to read, get inspired and help us all make the entrepreneurial shift!

About Babble Soft
Babble Soft, LLC is an Austin, Texas based company specializing in technology products that help make new parents’ lives easier.  The company’s first product, Baby Manager, was released in March 2007.  The company’s second application, Baby Say Cheese, was launched in September 2007.  If all goes well, the next feature will be out by end of 2007.  Knock on wood!  If you have questions or comments on photo albums, technology, mobile devices (PDAs or Smartphones), feeding, diapers, medicine, pumping, baby matters, and/or baby messes please e-mail us at one of the following addresses. If it’s specifically related to Baby Insights Web or Mobile or Babble Soft we will probably give you a pretty good answer. If it’s related to other stuff, we hope our response will at least make you smile!

Information: info(at)babblesoft(dot)com
Sales: sales(at)babblesoft dot com
Support: Please complete the form on the Support Page for technical and customer support related questions.

If your email has not been eaten by Spam gaurd, we will get back to you within 2-3 business days.

About Baby Say Cheese and Baby Insights
Whether you need breastfeeding support, are excitedly following your pregnancy week by week, are experiencing baby sleep issues, or are already under way creating your baby’s first year album, Babble Soft offers unique, easy-to-use Web and Mobile software solutions that improve communication between caregivers about baby’s and mom’s schedules.  See what people are saying on our User Stories and Testimonials page. 

Baby Insights helps caregivers keep track of baby’s breast & bottle feeding, sleep periods, diaper changes, medicine doses, and immunization records, as well as mom’s breastfeeding, pumping and medicine intake. Having important information stored in one location makes communication between parents, their nanny, babysitters, grandparents, or doctors seamless and reliable and gives new parents insight into their baby’s patterns to help with crucial baby care decisions. Baby Say Cheese lets you create a wonderful online baby’s first year photo album with milestones and family tree that you can share with friends and family. 

You can easily give the gift of Baby Say Cheese and Baby Insights by email or a beautifully designed gift card with holder.  Purchase now and breathe a sigh of relief because help is on the way…