CallinOates, you'll get these guys.

719-266-2837. Call it.

Don't worry, it's not a phone sex line. Just call it.

Feel better? Know why?

It's because you just listened to the sweet sounds of the CallinOats hotline, there when you need a good fix of Hall N' Oates, whether you're in a coke-covered penthouse in the West Village, or if you're simply having a rough day at the office. Apparently, it recently became a bit of a viral hit. So who built it?

As it turns out, two buddies, one of whom works at a startup where every employee is required to build their own app with the software.

Michael Selvidge works at the San Francisco-based Twilio, which, we'll let them explain what it is:

Twilio is a web-service API that lets you use your existing web languages and skills to build voice and SMS applications. We focus on building a simple, powerful, pay-as-you-go communications platform so that you can focus on what you do best.

Selvidge and his friend Reid Butler put it together. The Verge has the entire story:

The San Francisco-based [Twilo] requires that all new employees build an app, whether they're working in marketing, design, or systems. Selvidge, who formerly worked PR part time for Twilio before coming on as a full time employee, knew that he'd have to build something, but lacked an idea. He told me, "I thought, 'If only there was a pun that would work with this...' Then 'Callin' Oates' hit me, and that cinched it."

Today alone, The Verge reports, the hotline had 34,223 calls into it. Not bad for a new employee looking to make waves at his new company. Maybe this is a practice all startups could encourage to root out hidden and/or potential in their ranks, new or old? Either way, it's a smart, progressive work culture. We approve. And will be listening.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

The leading market for crazypants tech IPOs has found an official home on the microblogging platform and the original vowel-eschewing social network. Welcome nasdaq.tumblr.com to the dancefloor.

Hopefully it will post lots of Instagrammy pictures about its trip back home to visit its parents and long, teary reblogs of sexmusic.tumblr.com about that time Bernie Madoff was in charge, and how betrayed it feels, and how great the new Drake album is even though he like totally hates Tumblr.

The NASDAQ Tumblr site is actually pretty neat: They've got a real-time ticker and market average running at the top in a far cleaner layout than the actual, NASDAQ proper site. Their introductory post notes:

Today, more than 3,500 companies are listed on NASDAQ. Large or small, startup or established, these companies all have one thing in common: they’re the most forward-thinking in their industries. Think Starbucks. Tesla. Groupon. Google. Whole Foods. Apple. Here at NASDAQ, we thrive on the energy of companies that push the boundaries and we celebrate the visionaries who lead them. We see these companies as like-minded partners for NASDAQ. From our vantage point at the NASDAQ Marketsite in the heart of New York City, to our offices in Stockholm and Hong Kong, we are uniquely positioned to give you a front row seat to the innovations these companies are leading in music, tech, fashion, finance, healthcare and beyond.

So we welcome you to our Tumblr. This site will be your window into game-changing innovation, where every weekday we’ll feature the people, products and ideas that, like Tumblr, are literally changing the world.

A (begrudgingly, we admit) very neat addition to Tumblr. Hopefully NASDAQ pulled someone out of the uber-competitive Non-Essential Social Media Coordinator Hiring Pool to run it; it's a decent platform to do some interesting things with. Like dispatches from Groupon Day, and how Andrew Mason smells in person. That kind of thing.

Members only.

Lot18, the New York-based, members-only deal site for oenophiles and foodies, announced a $30 million round of funding this morning, about double what was raised in its seed, A, B and B-angel rounds. Accel Partners lead the round, which included existing investors New Enterprise Associates and FirstMark Capital. "The funds will support continued growth, as well as further technological and product development, particularly the expansion of Lot18 Gourmet and Experiences, the company’s food and travel verticals, respectively," according to a news release.

Lot18 got some attention not too long ago with some similarly good news when a few angels, including the cofounders of Diapers.com, gave Lot18 a million bucks in an "interim round" in order to get a piece of the company. "The company has seen 12 consecutive months of growth in gross merchandise volume, and facilitated the sales of more than 500,000 bottles of wine," a release said. The company says it's grown from six employees to 80 and more than 500,000 members in less than a year.

Lot18 looks to be killing it, based on the investor interest (and assuming the numbers are honest). The company has coped ably with challenges such as state-by-state alcohol regulations and sports a number of ecommerce gurus on its board (you got Bonobos cred, Diapers.com cred and Quidsi cred all in there. And we have it on authority that founder-CEO Philip James is a "nice guy").

With its newfound fortune, Lot18 is adding fancy travel packages (ski trips, VIP dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants, etc.) to its offerings of fancy wine, gourmet food, and free shipping based on the number of Kevin Bacon's Twitter followers.