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Detroit
Business
Succeeds
With
“Are You
a Human”
– Offers
Tips to
Start-Ups
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
If
you’re a
frequent
internet
user or
shopped
online,
then you
have
likely
encountered
a
CAPTCHA,
that
string
of
squiggly
and
distorted
letters
you have
to
decipher
before
proceeding
with a
transaction
or
posting
a
comment.
“They
are so
annoying!”
is a
common
user
reaction
to
making
out a
CAPTCHA.
Well, a
Detroit
based
start-up
company
has
created
a new
method
to
authenticate
website
visitors
that is
gaining
use and
popularity.
“Are You
a Human
PlayThru”
is a
simple,
cool
alternative
to the
traditional
CAPTCHA.
It’s a
drag and
drop
game
where
users
look at
a
graphic
image
and
answer a
question.
For
instance,
a pizza
might
appear
with
green
peppers,
pineapple
and
tomatoes
floating
on the
screen.
The user
is
prompted
to drag
the
toppings
onto the
pizza.
Answer
correctly
and be
congratulated
for
being a
member
of the
human
race!
It’s
that
simple.
http://areyouahuman.com/demo
Tell Us
Detroit
caught
up with
the
founders
of Are
You a
Human
last
week at
an event
hosted
at the
offices
of
Detroit
Venture
Partners,
headquartered
in the
remolded
Madison
Theater.
The
founders
were
panelists
for the
“Design
+
Development
for
Non-Technical
Founders”
program.
Co-founder
Tyler
Paxton
said it
was the
sellout
of
Hannah
Montana
tickets
in six
minutes
by
internet
savvy
scalpers
that
trigged
the
formation
of the
company.
That
bothered
Paxton
who was
trying
to buy
some of
those
Hannah
Montana
tickets
online
for a
friend.
How
could
scalpers
set up
an
automated
buying
system
that
evaded
traditional
CAPTCHAs
and
purchased
blocks
of
tickets
before
the
general
public?
Paxton
had the
answer,
“Create
quick
games
that
would be
hard for
bots
(web
robots)
to
figure
out but
easy for
humans.”
Today
the
games
are
engaging
and easy
for
people
to play.
In the
three
months
since
its
official
launch
Are You
a Human
has
grown
rapidly.
“We
serve
about
275,000
CAPTCHA
customers
a month
and at
the last
count we
were on
about 60
active
sites”
explained
co-founder
Benjamin
Blackmer
who said
the
company
is still
in its
early
days and
continuous
progress
is being
made to
ensure
the
technology
is
sound.
The
founders
are
Michiganders,
University
of
Michigan
MBA
graduates
and
share a
passion
for the
city.
“We see
that
something
new is
happening
in
Detroit
and we
want to
be a
part of
it’ said
Blackmer
who
added
that
with
Detroit
Venture
Partner
as their
lead
investor,
the
company
is in
close
proximity
to
entrepreneurs
trying
to make
a
difference.
Being a
big fish
in a
small
pond,
helps
too;
Paxton
said
“You can
go to
some
other
city on
the East
Coast,
that
won’t be
named,
and
you’re
not
going to
have any
impact
there,
here you
have a
chance
to stand
out and
really
make
change
happen.”
So what
advice
did the
Are You
Human
panelists,
and
Shawn
Gellar,
founder
of
Quikkly,
have for
would-be
start-up
companies?
Their
tips
emphasized
the
following:
• Got an
idea,
get it
out fast
and test
it.
Don’t be
guarded
with
your
idea,
share it
with as
people
many as
possible.
• Create
a
landing
page.
Create a
customer,
collect
feedback,
that’s
how you
can
morph
your
idea
before
spending
lots of
money on
a
platform
that may
later
scrapped.
• Coming
up with
ideas is
easy,
execution
is the
hard
part.
• Use a
Minimum
Viable
Product
with
basic
feature
to get
reactions
to your
idea/product,
with the
least
amount
of
effort
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