Visualising Startups with Google Maps

FormsDs.com

Form Ds are filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to show new business funding. Every startup is required to file how much money they have raised and this data is available from the commission. This site adds the daily filings to Google Maps so that users can see which companies around them are starting up and/or expanding.

From the map you can see the hubs of startup activity in the US on a daily basis. The map updates in real-time throughout the day as new filings arrive at the SEC. A quick look at the map at 7 am (EST) will show the map largely empty but by the evening it will be full of map markers displaying new business financings.

The map could also be a good source for people to see new businesses in their area that might be hiring. Every business that files a Form D has new funds to spend!

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Mmm... Cake on a Google Map

Cake Delivery Map

Pink Cake Box, based in Denville NJ, are often asked by potential clients where they deliver to. To help customers find the answer to this question they have developed a Google Map showing several of the different venues that they have delivered cakes to in the past.

The Pink Cake Box think that Google Maps is such a good vehicle for displaying a business' product that they have also published a tutorial. The tutorial explains how they created a WordPress plugin that automatically pulls data from their existing blog posts.

The plugin allows the Pink Cake Box to add a latitude/longitude and venue to a post. The plugin then automatically extracts additional information from the post and displays it on the Pink Cake Box's Cake Delivery Map. The plugin also has an added functionality to create links directly to a specific item on the map. So a link in a blog post can take readers directly to that entry on Google Maps.

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