This is the tenth in a series of Q&As with leaders / up-and-comers in the local space. Who he is: Grant Ritchie, CEO of Locationary What he does: A serial entrepreneur, Ritchie is a lawyer and technologist whose day-to-day includes providing Locationary oversight, guidance and direction over operations and technology systems. Prior to Locationary, Grant was a commercial and technology lawyer at a large Toronto firm and was part of the founding team that built and launched several online businesses including Moola.com (a game network with over 430,000 registered members) and CanadianHotelGuide.com...

This is the ninth in a series of Q&As with leaders / up-and-comers in the local space. Who is he: Jack Eisenberg What does he do: One of two founders of MapDing (formed last September and self-funded) Jack calls himself a serial entrepreneur who wants to make life easier through mobile technology. "In a previous life, I published a year’s worth of research across Japan and the Netherlands on immigration. I also worked in city government, political consulting, and as an ESL teacher at a non-profit," he said. The Chicagoan also notes "I will always be an autodidact." OK!...

This is the eighth in a series of Q&As with leaders / up-n-comers in the local space. Who is he: John Grant What does he do: one of the four founders of Mobywan, founded in July, 2010 and currently self-funded. The company has one iPhone/Android app currently, Mobeo...

This is the seventh in a series of Q&As with leaders/up-n-comers in the local space. Who is he: Lenny Rachitsky, 29 What does he do: C-Everything of Localmind, as-yet-launched startup funded by Year One Labs, an incubator out of Montreal Describe Localmind as if a friend's mother asked, "So what is this Localmind? I'm glad you asked, Mrs. Mom...

This is the sixth in a series of brief Q&As with leaders and up-and-comers in the local space... Describe Whrrl as if a friend's mother asked, "So what is this Whrrl? I bet if we asked, you could name off the top of your head three favorite places to go and the things you do at those places. Finding new places that are perfect for you is hard because people are content to stick to what they know. Whrrl increases the possibility of discovering something new — rather than you finding ideas, we believe the right ideas should find you...

This is the fifth in a series of brief Q&As with leaders and up-and-comers in the local space... Describe Gowalla as if a friend's mother asked, "So what is this Gowalla? Gowalla is a social network that inspires people to keep up with friends, share the places they go and discover the extraordinary in the world around them. Like a passport on your phone, Gowalla was born out of a desire to share remarkable places and life journeys in a fun, easy and social way. Since launch, people have visited, commented on and photographed 2 million places in 170 countries with Gowalla...

This is the fourth in a series of brief Q&As with leaders and up-and-comers in the local space... Describe Goodzer as if a friend's mother asked, "So what is this Goodzer"? Goodzer helps you every time you want to buy anything you need in the local stores...

This is the fifth in a series of brief Q&As with leaders and up-and-comers in the local space. Describe Examiner as if a friend's mother asked, "So what is this Examiner?" Think of the early roots of information exchange, before the Internet, before phones even. People would return from travels abroad with news, ideas and new trends and happenings. People received their information from those around them that were closest to the subject matter. That’s what Examiner.com...

This is the fourth in a series of brief Q&As with leaders and up-and-comers in the local space Describe RateCred as if a friend's mother asked, "So what is this RateCred?" Well my mom uses RateCred. One day she said to me “Clay, can I try that rate for credit thing you do? Last night I went to my favorite Greek restaurant, and they gave me a free Souvlaki appetizer! I always go places that I want my friends to know about.” So we don’t try to be a directory of places, although we do that too, what we want to do very well is is make it simple to share your opinion about the places you go with your friends. We then make that a game with rewards so it's fun to play the rating game with others...

This is the third in a series of brief Q&As with leaders in the local space. Describe Loopt as if a friend's mother asked, "So what is this Loopt?" Think about the last time you walked into a coffee shop, and saw someone that you hadn’t seen a long time, or you stumble into a gallery that you love. This is one of those great life experiences that are amazingwhen you have them, but they don’t happen terribly often on their own. With Loopt, you get a sharper view, you can see that a friend is 10 blocks away, get alerts when they are close, see what places your friends like around you. These “intentional accidents” are what make Loopt fascinating to a lot of people...