Brand Story – Twenty Ideas creates custom software solutions to help companies thrive.
When he was a young student at the University of Chicago in the 1990s, Mike Biglan enrolled in two computer science classes. The first one, he crushed. The second one? It crushed him.
“I did horribly,” he says. “I never took another one after that.”
Yet Biglan, who went on to earn his degree in economics, never lost his affinity for computers. He would read computer science textbooks in his spare time, and eventually, he made his way to the University of California, San Diego, where he earned a master’s in computer science and engineering. Fast-forward through about a decade’s worth of tech experience — as a programmer, developer and chief technology officer — and Biglan was ready to head out on his own in 2014. That’s when he founded Twenty Ideas, a digital product agency that develops custom software solutions for companies in health care, education and a range of other markets.
“I had really enjoyed what I’d done before that, which was taking ideas and turning them into realities,” says Biglan, who had headed up technology for the widely adopted video sharing startup Marco Polo before launching Twenty Ideas. “I like leading a team that enables origin stories.”
Today, Twenty Ideas comprises 60 designers and engineers across four time zones, with headquarters in Eugene and Portland and a team in Thailand headed up by Biglan’s brother. Prospective customers usually come to Twenty Ideas with a challenge or issue in search of a solution, which the company delivers through custom software. Its specialties include artificial intelligence — which it has been utilizing for more than a decade — user experience and user interface design, front- and back-end development and mobile apps.
Biglan says the Twenty Ideas team listens to customers, then asks them loads of questions to help identify and define the challenge, the solution and how they’re going to get there. That’s followed by design creation , coding, customization and other steps, from ideation through implementation.
“The best technology is invisible, but when it’s not, it can be frustrating,” Biglan says. “We are focused on making our customers’ experience with technology engaging with the least amount of friction possible. Every part of what we do is focused on how to make it a smoother experience.”
One example of Twenty Ideas transforming a client’s big idea into an innovative solution is its work for Daimler Truck North America. The commercial truck manufacturer, seller and servicer had a proprietary digital platform for managing vehicle maintenance called TechLane, but it needed new mobile-first features that would enable technicians to work more efficiently. Technicians working beneath large trucks needed to be able to easily access key information from the core TechLane platform — part numbers, troubleshooting guides, system diagrams and more — without having to climb out and jump onto a laptop.
Twenty Ideas was brought into the project by Gavin Gillas and Rick McDonald, Austin-based tech innovators who devised the original concept for a mobile app counterpart to interface with the TechLane platform. The Twenty Ideas team built upon McDonald and Gillas’ foundational work to create “TechAssist,” an app equipped with image capture and voice-to-text features that let technicians collect, share and access information on parts and procedures from any location. Designed to seamlessly integrate with the TechLane platform, TechAssist has been launched successfully at one pilot location and is on track to be adopted across many of Daimler’s other locations in the coming months.
Twenty Ideas also partnered with Silicon Valley success story PHC Global three years ago after Biglan read about the company founder, Charity Dean, in the Michael Lewis book, “The Premonition.” Dean was one of a small group of doctors and public health officials who saw early on how damaging the COVID-19 pandemic was going to be.
Twenty Ideas’ work for PHC Global, including UI/UX, branding and product features, helped PHC Global launch its bio risk platform and secure $35 million from investors.
Biglan says the PHC Global and Daimler work are good examples of how Twenty Ideas starts with an idea and ends with a tangible solution.
“We are often creating a lot of ideas, but we have to be really good at executing as well,” he says, noting that coming up with lots of ideas is what’s partly behind the company’s name. “As an agency, we have to live and die by that. We have to hit the mark on every project. We love the ideation, but we also have to get the thing done.”
While Twenty Ideas works quite a bit in the health care and education spaces, the company has experience with a wide variety of clients. Biglan says Twenty Ideas is often able to bring a refreshing enthusiasm to companies that have become complacent in how they do things simply because that’s how they’ve always done them.
“We do a good job providing the feel of an ambitious startup and bringing that energy to a larger organization,” he says. “We come in, create a solution and get you to the finish line.”
Find out more at twentyideas.com.
Brand stories are paid content articles that allow Oregon Business advertisers to share news about their organizations and engage with readers on business and public policy issues. The stories are produced in house by the Oregon Business marketing department. For more information, contact associate publisher Courtney Kutzman.
