A software entrepreneur in Irvine has launched a social networking site to make users’ dreams become reality through crowdsourcing.
Voloe aims to help people and organizations accomplish goals, from dream vacations and funding music programs to attending college, all through a pay-it-forward philosophy.
“We felt that social media could be used for a far greater purpose,” said Voloe founder Andy Firoved, whose day job is running Irvine-based HOTB Software. “We’re allocating upwards of $1 million over 12 months to prove our theory.”
The site is holding a series of contests to award money and resources to hopefuls. The company is trying to keep the pool of potential winners in the low thousands so that it’s not overcrowded with users.
Voloe, which means wish, will, want or desire in Latin, has raised about $2 million to launch the site and has relied on capital from HOTB to fund the initiative.
Firoved, a Mission Viejo native, launched HOTB, a consultancy and custom software maker that serves government agencies, in 2008. It employs fewer than than 50 people and has annual revenue of more than $5 million.
“We always knew we wanted to make our mark in the world and create a better scenario for the next generation,” Firoved said.
Apple Reveals Numbers
Apple Inc. became the latest tech giant to provide employment data on race and gender, which might pressure Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. to do the same.
Broadcom is among a handful of companies being pushed by labor activists and Chicago-based civil rights advocacy group Rainbow Push Coalition to disclose employment demographics. The organization plans to file a freedom-of-information request with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to acquire the data, the organization’s founder, Jesse Jackson, told the Business Journal last month.
The list also includes San Diego-based rival Qualcomm Inc., Oracle Corp., Amazon.com and Yelp Inc.
Cupertino-based Apple revealed that 70% of its employees are white or Asian and reported that men make up the same percentage of its global workforce.
Blacks and Latinos make up 18% of its employment base, by far the most diverse among the handful of large tech companies that have released such data. The figures include employees at Apple stores, which could account for the higher percentages since they tend to be in urban areas.
Broadcom hasn’t responded to numerous requests for comment on the issue, which has gained national prominence as concerns rise over diversity and the payment gap between American engineers and those in the influential sector with H-1B worker visas.
Robin Williams
Irvine-based video maker Blizzard Entertainment Inc. has signaled it will memorialize the late actor and comic Robin Williams in its popular World of Warcraft franchise, which is played by some 6.8 million people. Williams, who committed suicide earlier this month, was a big WoW fan and avid gamer, prompting Blizzard fans to post an online petition to get him in the game. Williams’ daughter, Zelda, was named after a character and game in the iconic Nintendo franchise.
