What do we do?
There are only 24 hours in a day and a near infinite number of blogs, news sites, applications, and companies to follow. You don’t attempt to read the entire newswire every day, and we didn’t think you should be doing the same for all your RSS feeds. We set out to create an aide, like a newspaper editor, to help you find and read what matters.
PostRank functions like an intelligent assistant, which continuously monitors RSS feeds, finds the good stuff, creates a PostRank™ score for each item, and delivers them to you. We do the grunt work of collecting information on every post, allowing you to focus on your agenda and stay on top of the news stream.
Our company
Based in Waterloo, Canada, AideRSS, Inc. is a privately held company founded in early 2007 by Ilya Grigorik, Francis Lau, and Kevin Thomason to deal with daily information overload and our overflowing feed readers. Utilizing the latest cloud computing technologies and distributed algorithms we created the PostRank™ filtering process to better measure social engagement online. With a great mix of strong technical and creative talents, our team continues to innovate by developing new information management solutions.
You might wonder why we’ve now consolidated the aiderss.com website with postrank.com. The answer is simple. As our company, services, and technology evolve, we want to continue to strengthen our brand in the market, make it easier to explain what we do, and focus on our core value to be useful to our user community. AideRSS is still the company name, though. For a more detailed explanation, we’ve blogged about it as well.
Our team
Ilya Grigorik - CTO
E: ilya [at] aiderss.com P: x220 Blog: igvita.com Twitter: @igrigorik Ilya’s friends got tired of him explaining the finer points of how he invented the hyperdrive and flux capacitor — after all, they were only in Kindergarten at the time. So off he went to do other things, and eventually get a B.Sc. in Computer Science from University of Waterloo. Then one day Ilya narrowly avoided certain death beneath an avalanche of unread RSS feeds. He knew that something must be done to protect future generations from the menace of information overload. And voila — AideRSS was born. In his spare time, Ilya dreams of one day being able to travel again, armed with a backpack and a camera. In the mean time he spends his spare time catching up on podcasts and tinkering around the house with DIY projects like cupcake-icing robots and artificially intelligent picture frames.
Carol Leaman - CEO
E: carol [at] aiderss.com P: x221 Twitter: @carolleamanIt’s rumoured that Carol has overthrown hostile governments and climbed Everest single-handedly, but she doesn’t like to talk about it. She has worked in the management consulting, virtual reality, and software industries, but identifying great opportunities and helping companies achieve their potential is where she really works her magic. (We like to think we fit both categories.) Despite having a Masters in Accounting, Carol is no mere bean counter. Whether it’s building up new companies or helping turn around those experiencing struggles, Carol’s unique blend of strategic skills and hands-on operations management is pure alchemy. Hey, there’s a reason our t-shirts are gold…
Jim Murphy - VP Development
E: jim [at] aiderss.com P: x223 Blog: wattf.com Twitter: @jimmurphyWhat’s new? Jim knows. And he can build it for you, too. New markets and early stage companies are Jim’s specialty. (Whew, good thing he’s on our side…) Jim has led, strategized, architected, and developed both from inside corporate walls and as a consultant. His experience spans the petrochemical, finance, and software industries, and Jim thinks there may just be something to this whole internet thing. When not turning acronyms into software, Jim can be found tearin’ up the road on his hog, rediscovering what Waterloo Region’s been up to in the last decade or so.
Cheri Doherty – Director of Operations
E: cheri [at] aiderss.com P: x229 Cheri has been known to leap tall buildings in a single bound, just because she can. More often, though, she uses her superpowers to keep people and operations running like a well-oiled machine. Prior to joining AideRSS, Cheri’s tactical-fu kept TD Bank, Bell Canada, and Quarry Integrated Communications ship shape. Outside of the office, Cheri occasionally applies her research tenacity to hunting down fabulous shoes, and she can often be found out on the links using her laser-like focus to lower her handicap.
Andrew Baldwin – Developer
E: andrew [at] aiderss.com Twitter: @thebaldwinAndrew’s story begins on a dark and stormy day in 1982, when a doctor handed him a keyboard and away he went. After spending some time in Silicon Valley, Andrew realized how much he enjoyed the joys of four seasons, and an opportunity to redefine RSS – nowadays he spends his time plumbing the depths of virtual intertubes of Amazon’s AWS services to make AideRSS tick. Andrew is an intrepid adventurer and someday he dreams of travelling as far west as Toronto.
Dan Sinclair – Developer
E: dan [at] aiderss.com Blog: everburning.com Twitter: @dj2sinclDan emerged from the ocean some 2 million years ago, covered in primordial ooze. After developing opposable thumbs, he started poking around at anything and everything these new-fangled computers had to offer. Dan holds a bachelors of Mathematics in Honours Computer Science from the University of Waterloo. He has spent the last 5 years in Toronto building, speeding up and breaking things while longing for Campus Pizza. He works on Ruby, Java and various other technologies with a bent on breaking things. Dan feels most at home in his natural habitat, coding in a room lined with books, video games and Grateful Dead albums.
Josh Hull – Developer
E: josh [at] aiderss.com Twitter: @joshbuddyJosh likes ponies. And Ruby. That’s about all we could get out of him before he clammed up and started rocking back and forth and muttering. And so, to learn about AideRSS’ newest developer, we turned to that age-old stalker’s treasure trove, the internets. We discovered that Josh has a rebellious streak and is NOT a U of W alumnus, but also that his long life has been fraught with hardships and lollipops (mostly the green ones when things got really bad…) He likes running (though we couldn’t determine if he’s a chaser or chasee) and deflecting emotionally telling questions. Hey, look over there! His primary interests include pursuing his secondary interests. He once shot himself when a man in Reno accused him of being recursive. Josh also prefers working on Macs, though not while baking.
Trevor Creech – Developer
E: trevor [at] aiderss.com Twitter: @zedlander Blog: trevorcreech.com We can’t find the toll-free number to cancel our subscription to U of W’s co-op program, and so Trevor arrived. Fortunately, we asked him if he knows how to do stuff, and he does. Score! Trevor claims to be studying something called “Mechatronics”, which we’re pretty sure he made up, but it sounds cool, so we’re all getting it on our business cards. Trevor enjoys the Linux, like most of the kids these days. He’s also our WordPress wizard. He and Ilya have not yet engaged in iSaber wars with their iPhones, but we’re sure it’s only a matter of time…
Daniel Brown – UX/UI Designer
E: daniel [at] aiderss.com Daniel is a visual effects wizard who can turn a pencil sketch and a pile of vaguely-worded Post-It Notes into a great interface. (He also has fabulous hair.) Whether it’s figuring out how to communicate what PostRank does in a single image, or designing a site that’s as easy for you to navigate as for your mom, Daniel’s the man. New to the area, he spends his weekends learning his way around, and during the week toils tirelessly to help AideRSS put its best face forward.
James Stewart – UX/UI Designer
E: james [at] aiderss.com Twitter: @majormustardJames is such a good designer that his picture doesn’t even need colour. No newb to the startup space, James’ working background includes both the corporate and agency sides of design work. He also has mad foosball skillz. Educated in Toronto, James is a native of this area, and came back to embark on his career (he also likes it here). While his personal interests mostly include design… and more design, James is also a fan of classic cars and unique aircraft, though fortunately for us his lack of independent wealth means he has to work for us rather than jetsetting about, at least for now. Apparently, Tom Cruise’s character in Top Gun is also based on James, but then again he did admit he might lie on his Get To Know You questionnaire…
Melanie Baker – Community Manager
E: melanie [at] aiderss.com P: x224 Blog: melle.ca Twitter: @melleMelanie’s promising career as a pirate queen was cut tragically short when she discovered she had a paralyzing fear of puffy shirts. She fled into the welcoming arms of the internet and hasn’t looked back. Having found experiencing the dot-com more useful than theatre school, Melanie has worked in Marketing, web, and SQA, with some writing and editing on the side. She also makes sockmonkeys and bakes tasty things. Melanie is fascinated with how people use computers and how online interaction shapes relationships, and she really wants to know what you think.
AideRSS Bear – Mascot
E: bear [at] aiderss.com Blog: blog.aiderss.com Twitter: @aiderssThe AideRSS Bear (BooBoo to his friends), ended up at the company by accident. He was in the process of learning French, and thought the company was AideOurs. An honest mistake. Now that he’s here, though, he’s having a great time, keeping the feed filters clear of dead links and restocking the beverage fridge. In his free time, BooBoo enjoys bubble baths, moonlit walks on the beach, string cheese, and UFC.
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