Let’s face it, doing your civic duty can be a pain. When it’s your turn to report for jury duty, it’s not always easy to remember to call, to remember where to go, where to park, or even when to report. Many just don’t show up.
Jurymind, winner of June’s anniversary edition of the Hatching, is an app that works for the courts and the jurors to improve the entire jury duty process. Courts provide the information, jurors download the app and get everything they need to know sent to their phone. A reminder to call, parking information, when to report, and more, right at their fingertips (instead of on a ten minute phone recording).
Jurymind aims to make juror communication simple and easy.
Founders
Blake Nyquist
Brett Nyquist
Tommy Maloney
Problem Being Solved:
No one looks forward to the dreaded yet inevitable summons to jury duty. We know we should do it, we hate it but we have every intention of going when we are called. But, when the time comes, something happens. Even though it’s our duty, it’s a huge interruption to our everyday lives. Plans have to be made to miss work, time taken from your day to call and find out whether you are serving, transportation or childcare lined up just in case, and whether or not we do it on purpose, there is a very large number of people who just don’t show up. When this happens, the court system suffers. Trials must be postponed, and those that didn’t show up are penalized.
Where the Idea Came From:
The idea evolved from Blake simply trying to solve a problem he faced. When he was called to jury duty he would forget to make the call to find out if he had to report. He wasn’t trying to ditch, he simply forgot. He decided there had to be a better way to approach the issue. “In the eighties the phone system was probably revolutionary,” he says, “But with all the technology available today there should be a more modern solution.”
Biggest Challenge:
Since the Hatching, Blake’s biggest challenge has simply been time. Finding the time to devote to development amid other personal and professional obligations has been difficult. He’s come to fully understand the notion of time as the resource that is the most constrained.
Surprising Aspects:
Blake was surprised to learn the average number of no show jurors. He dug in there because he figured that was the biggest pain point for the courts. He was also surprised at how many initiatives there have been across the country with the goal of lowering the no show rates. several initiatives across the country on tactics that can help the no show rates. Didn’t realize how much effort was being put into improving that already.
Funding:
Jurymind has been mostly bootstrapped, with only the Hatching providing additional funding. They have been looking into other options through LEAP and are planning on pursuing other options. “We are very interested in starting those conversations.”
Blake is confident that once they start pursuing it, the money will be there, “There is a huge market for legal based software systems.”
The Future:
In the next 3-5 years, Blake can see two possibilities for Jurymind. He would like to see them in a number of courts across the states, or he would like them to be an acquisition target. “We have many other ideas and we would like to put some time into those.”
Advice:
Blake’s advice to young entrepreneurs is to “find a problem you have, and come up with an innovative solution.”
You can find more information on their website.
