West Bloomfield's Henry Balanon is on a mission to create a new culture in Metro Detroit: the young, hip web entrepeneur. Look out, Silicon Valley.
He's one of the most popular local personalities on Twitter -- but he's leveraged social media to create huge new opportunities. While not running his successful iPhone app company, Bickbot, Balanon's everywhere: delivering a presentation on "Scotch & Cigars" at TEDxDetroit, winning the Chevy South by Southwest challenge and co-authoring his food blog,
The Hungry Dudes.
Excerpt:
People like to pick on us. New media is helping us celebrate Detroit
with the rest of the world. I foresee a lot of new industries and
startups coming from Detroit. People like social media professionals
Chris Barger (General Motors), Dave Murray (re:group), Brandon Chesnutt
(Identity PR), and Scott Monty (Ford) are spreading these vibes
nationally at conferences. Our community is on a mission to raise
Detroit from the ashes.
Read more about why this budding young talent calls Oakland County home
here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.