Fundable President Eric Corl helped Lakewood startup DecisionDesk raise money with investors

Crowdfunding intermediary Fundable LLC helped close a $1.25 million investment round for a Cleveland-area startup for web-based college admissions management.

DecisionDesk raised a total of $2 million for expansion with the March approval of a $750,000 loan from the state’s Innovation Ohio Loan Fund. The Lakewood-based company, still legally named CitizenGroove Inc. from a prior product, pledged to create 38 jobs over two years and keep seven. It’s already hired nine.

DecisionDesk used Liberty Township-based Fundable for help raising its final $250,000 in private investment.

“They had existing customers,” Fundable President Eric Corl said of DecisionDesk. “They had a proven business model. They knew what their margins were. They were operating their company very well.”

Crowdfunding is currently legal if startups solicit money online only in exchange for products or rewards such as Facebook mentions or private meetings with company founders. Federal law last year called for opening such solicitations up to equity investors under certain conditions, but rules aren’t yet in place to implement it.

Meantime, it is legal to solicit from high net worth investors accredited by the Securities and Exchange Commission, so Fundable is able to use its technology to present online profiles to that invitation-only crowd.

“The whole (Fundable) team worked incredibly fast to build an online profile,” DecisionDesk CEO John Knific said. “They pushed us to their entire network, featured us on the home page.”

DecisionDesk, which lets schools manage videos and other multimedia portions of college applications online, is a direct competitor to Dublin-based Acceptd.

Eric Corl Biography

Eric Corl was born in Westlake, Ohio in 1985. He states that he had a normal early childhood, playing outside, eating bugs, riding bikes around the city without care, skateboarding, and watching Double Dare.

Alongside that, Corl grew up in an entrepreneurial family and had the opportunity to work in his family’s business from a young age where he credits gaining much of his work ethic.

“My family was very entrepreneurial. My parents have an office furniture re-manufacturing company. You take old office furniture and essentially recycle it. A lot of it, through an intense breakdown, strip, fix, replace, and renew process. My grandparents owned a few antique shops and spent the weekends going to garage sales and flea markets – looking for the the unappreciated treasures. I saw both the consistent and the variable.”

“Some of my favorite childhood memories are from working with my brother and sister in my parent’s warehouse in Lakewood, Ohio. Early on, I learned how to work hard. We were given a lot of freedom but were expected to contribute. My first wage was $2 an hour sweeping floors, sorting screws, and folding boxes. I loved it. As we got older, we did everything from unloading semi-trucks to stripping panels and sanding tops. It was hard work but was very rewarding to see something once old get a new life.” Corl said.

Eric attended Bassett Elementary school from Kindergarten to fifth grade. He then attended Lee Burneson Middle School from sixth to eigth grade. He excelled in academics, arts, and science.

“On one hand, I worked on many weekends helping my Dad, and during the week my Mom would be bringing home EKG’s and sheep eyes to dissect. I had a profound interest in becoming a doctor from an early age and I’m still fascinated by science and health.”

In 2000, Eric Corl began attending Lutheran High School West where he was in Ski Club and on the soccer team. He became intrigued with business when he was given a copy of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by his mother. At the age of 16, he was hitting the library every day after school to read every business book he could get his hands on.

Eric Corl - Ohio Entrepreneur

Eric Corl has been recognized by the White House, United Nations, Small Business Administration, and Inc Magazine, among others. Did you also know, he’s based right here in Columbus, Ohio?

The 33 year old entrepreneur has made a name for himself helping get new startups off the ground and certainly hasn’t let any grass grow under his feet. Since launching his first company in 2004, Corl has helped thousands of entrepreneurs through education and companies he has built specifically to help them do the same. He was part of the founding team of Startups.co, co-founder of Fundable, and of the Inc 500 recognized company Eric Corl IdeaBuyer.

Eric Corl | Personal Site of Entrepreneur

"Entrepreneurship is the Archimedes lever, allowing you to achieve more than you would as an individual."

Welcome to the personal blog, of Eric Corl, where he shares experiences from starting and growing businesses over the last 15 years. EricCorl.com was created to provide entrepreneurs and small business owners insight Corl gained because of his personal wins and losses.

Currently, Corl is the President & CEO of Idea Buyer, a company recognized by Inc. Magazine three years in a row on the Inc. 5000.

Eric Corl is currently based out of the great state of Ohio. That’s right, the state mentioned most on TV is also a great place to start and grow a business. Corl moved to Columbus to attend THE Ohio State University and is proud to remain a part of the city’s growing entrepreneurial community.

Eric Corl’s Achievements include:

A 3X Nationally Recognized Inc 500 & Inc 5000 company founder.

Small Business Administration Main Street Leader.

One of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs in the Country by the White House.

Eric Corl

Eric Corl is humble about the company and states that scaling the venture has been challenging at times. “When you scale your company, it becomes more and more difficult to be involved in every aspect. As we have had more success, we’ve actually reduced the number of ventures we get involved with, so we can dedicate more time to coaching the entrepreneurs we help. It has helped tremendously in seeing more performance from those entrepreneurs, and we have more control over filtering out people with unrealistic expectations or those that lack the grit to put the work in.”

The Idea Buyer Story

Idea Buyer, LLC has been helping entrepreneurs develop and prepare their ideas, products and technologies for retail distribution since 2007. What originally started as an online marketplace for intellectual property, has become an end-to-end business development and marketing machine. That company now also helps entrepreneurs turn their ideas into a business, while minimizing cost and completion time.

Our team of over 20 professionals provides support through every necessary step of turning an idea into a business. Our broad array of expertise and experience, allows entrepreneurs to focus time and resources on building their business.

Working with one company, possessing the capability to do everything from branding to manufacturing and retail management, is what our clients and partners recognize as our most valuable asset. Idea Buyer takes pride in offering something, unique within the industry, which also allows us to offer high value and high potential for success, at reduced upfront investment.