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Nerd Alert rocks home tech repair boat By John Nelander Special to the Daily News Big box retailer Best Buy took a byte out of the home tech support market when it acquired the Geek Squad, a digital repair crew, in 2002. Palm Beach entrepreneur Julius McGee is hoping to give them a run for their money with his new venture, Nerd Alert. He and his partners completed a “soft launch” of the company last month, matching technicians with customers through a website to service Macs, PCs, smartphones and other devices in their homes. McGee is working with Virgin Gaming founder Billy Levy, who is Nerd Alert’s co-founder, to offer the service first throughout South Florida by summer and then nationwide. Levy and his partners, Zack Zeldin and Ryan Tenbusch, sold their interest in Virgin Gaming two years ago and are pursuing other start-up companies. Levy said he saw an opportunity to get into the computer repair market because the Geek Squad charges “a pretty significant fee.” He felt that McGee – a childhood friend from Chicago – could set up a company that delivered home-based services “without any incentives to up-sell to the customer.” Consumer and small business tech support is a $30 billion industry with U.S. households accounting for 40 percent of that, according to Parks Associates, a market research and consulting firm based in Dallas. The Geek Squad offers on-site training that starts at $149 an hour, according to the Best Buy website. Data recovery services are $49.99 if you ship your computer to the company or have it done in-store. Nerd Alert charges $40 an hour for training and troubleshooting, and the clock starts ticking when the tech enters the home. The tech keeps 70 percent and Nerd Alert gets 30 percent. They are hooked up with customers through the Nerd Alert website, nerdalert.com. “What we’re creating is similar to a dating site but in this case we’re matching a customer up with a nerd,” said McGee, 33. Focus on Palm Beach The company has so far signed on a network of about 25 technicians focusing primarily on Palm Beach County. The idea for the service grew while McGee was working tech support for Apple in Boca Raton, where he graduated from Florida Atlantic University. He and Levy aim to raise $1.5 million to get Nerd Alert fully developed. The biggest expenses are insurance and thorough background checks. The technicians have to be vetted and personally interviewed before they’re hooked up with potential customers. “We’re looking for tech skills, but we also know that the focus is on customer service,” McGee said. “There are a lot of guys out there who have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to technology and computer repair, but we find that a lot of them don’t have the social skills. You have to make the customer comfortable.” Levy said techs are certified based on a specific set of skills. “Maybe you’re an iPhone expert or maybe you’re a Microsoft Office expert,” he said. “Then we match the customer up with those skills. We’re not so much looking for people who know how to do everything.” A lot of people call with issues that can be vague, however. “Older people might say, ‘I just got a new iPad and I don’t know how to work it.’ And then we come to find out when we get there that Wi-Fi hasn’t been set up, or they don’t have it,” McGee said. “Younger people are more knowledgeable about computers and mobile devices, and say they just need a little computer help. When we get there, they have a whole list of things. Most of it is troubleshooting, but I always say, ‘If you ever have this problem again, here’s how to fix it.’ We want the business, but I would rather empower you instead of having you rely on me.” - See more at: http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/business/nerd-alert-rocks-home-tech-repair-boat/nkLQ2/#sthash.X2JZeJ6j.dpuf