Monthly Archives: September 2006
Blufr Beta: Don’t get Bluf’d!
Blufr is a trivia website created by the masterminds of Answers.com. You know how some people say that knowledge is power? This is a way to attain knowledge in a fun way!
On the homepage of blufr.com, you are poised with certain questions and the point is not to get bluf’d so you can earn points and become the über-bluf master. To start the game, start answering away at the questions. When you feel you are done, click on “Claim My Score†and then enter your initials and personal website. Your score has the potential to be in the top 20 scores, top blufs, and random blufs that are placed on the homepage. Users can also submit a bluf thus building the database of questions offered on the website.
“NO WAY!” “WAY!” These are the options that you can choose which are the equivalent of True and False. For the questions that you get wrong, you will not be awarded a point in your score tally. Also, if you get it wrong, then don’t feel bad because blufr also calculates the percentage of other people that got the question wrong.
Another amusing feature blufr has is “blufr face.” Right on the homepage, a random picture of a user with a funny face is loaded next to the blufr logo. Any user can take a picture and submit it to blufrfaces@answers.com. There are also options to embed your blufr score to your personal blogs or MySpace profiles as well. You can also embed blufr questions on your website or e-mail signatures.
Blufr is currently open to anyone. Registration is not required to play. Blufr’s openness and addictiveness will undoubtedly facilitate its viral growth. It’s a simple concept that works well to keep users engaged. Plus you learn something new each time you visit the site.
Categories Answers.com, Blufr
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Approver, a new document collaboration application
Approver is a document collaboration application launched by Jeffrey McManus, a former Yahoo developer. It lets you create or upload documents and request feedback on them. It’s a rather simple but useful application.
The sign up process is short. Once you verify your email and login, you are taken to a simple “My Documents†page. From this page, you can create or upload a new document.
Once you create a document, Approver requests you to list the email addresses of friends or colleagues you would like to share the document with as shown below. You can either have a friend or colleague review a document or approve it. Approver also lets you choose whether to allow the friend or colleague to edit the document.
Approver then gives you the option to set a deadline for the document. You can also add comments to the document. Once you save the document, the collaborators are sent an email alert. If you request a review of a document, all the reviewer can do is look over the document and comment on it. If you request an approval of a document, the approver can simply select “approve document†once they approve of it. If you give a reviewer or approver editing capabilities, they can make changes to your document.
I did catch a few bugs in the system. Unfortunately, I was not able to review all the collaborative mechanics of Approver because of a database error. I would have really liked to see how one approves and edits a document.
To create more then one document, you must become a paid member. A premium account is $5.95 a month or $39.95 a year. With a premium account, you can create and share up to 50 documents at one time and invite up to 50 people at a time to review your documents.
All in all, I like Approver. I do think its pay model may be problematic. Writely is a more evolved document collaboration platform that’s completely free. But the collaborative features on Approver do stand out. Its ease of use also stands out. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes Approver.
Categories Approver
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10 warning signs of a failing Web 2.0 startup
Here is a failure warning list for the good of Web 2.0 entrepreneurs everywhere. It’s inevitable that most startups will in fact fail. But as long as you create a website people find useful, you should be okay. Just stop creating those damn MySpace widgets.
Your startup may be failing if:
1. You saw how much Kiko sold for on eBay and are considering following in their footsteps.
2. You have 100 users after 3 months of launch and most of them are your friends who were asked to join by force.
3. VCs are not getting back to your emails and phone calls. In my experience, VCs are generally willing to look at a business plan and respond to emails and phone calls but only if they see value in your startup. If every VC you contact ignores you, there is definitely something wrong.
4. No one has blogged about your startup. Bloggers are a powerful source of information on Web 2.0. If they do not see any use for your website, they will not write about it. And if no one writes about it, no one hears about it.
5. You are considering using MySpace as a marketing medium to get your startup noticed. If your beautiful AJAX super social website is not getting noticed at all, MySpace is not going to help. It actually makes you look bad.
6. You constantly worry about your website’s useless Alexa rank and think up creative ways to drive it up.
7. When a similar competing startup launches, you lose sleep over it.
8. You start calling your startup a “project†instead of a company.
9. You do not have a business strategy beyond getting tons of users.
10. You realize that maybe you should have stayed in school instead of dropping out to create the next Facebook / MySpace / YouTube!
If you can think of some more warning signs, add them to your comments below so we can create the web’s biggest Web 2.0 startup failure warning signs list!
Kaneva.com & Ludacris launches Music Talent Search
Atlanta rapper, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges [a rapper known for his famous single tracks "Stand Up" "No. 1 Spot" and "Saturday (Ooh Ooh)"], leading song producers, Block and Dallas Austin, and record producer, Sean Garrett are judges for a Kaneva.com sponsored competition called “How Down is Your Sound?” Kaneva.com is a social entertainment network that wants to give $60,000 to the most talented musician.
The competition is free to enter and is eligible to anyone in the U.S. Contestants have to do is upload their song or music video to the web channel, How Down is Your Sound on kaneva.com. Anyone in the world can vote online for their favorite musicians. Ryan Cameron, the host of How Down Is Your Sound asks “Where else in the world can someone off the street with literally no entry barriers, get the chance to share their sound and performance — whether it is rap, hip hop, or rock — with millions of people worldwide, as well as with hit making producers who can help rocket them into celebrity status?”
Isn’t the answer to that question, YouTube Underground? This should be an interesting bout. Celebrity judge and rap phenomenon, Ludacris representing Kaneva vs. one of the top 20 most visited websites in the world, YouTube. May the best social entertainment network win!
As you have seen in my last YouTube post I wrote from before, you have seen what the winners take home from that competition, but what do the winners take home from Kaneva besides the $60K? Contestants will be eligible to perform with the celebrity judges, $7500 in cash prizes, recording time with Dallas Austin’s studio, DARP, and a one day internship with Sean Garrett.
What is Kaneva.com? “Kaneva is your ‘canvas’ where you can showcase and share your passions, interests, and talents with the world –by creating your own online profile, virtual self or your own Web channel.” [source] On the website you can upload content that represents your sense of expression such as videos, photos, and music. There are many themes and many drag+drop widgets included with every profile. A unique feature of Kaneva.com is its 3D Virtual World. You can create a customizable 3D virtual self including eye color and hair style. After your virtual character is created, you can meet other virtual characters in apartments, movie theaters, and apartments.
If I were to describe this website in one sentence it would be that Kaneva.com is what you would get if you took YouTube, Electronic Arts’ The Sims, and MySpace and squished them together in a sardine can. Kaneva.com was founded by Christopher W. Klaus, who is also the founder, Chief Security Advisor and board member of Internet Security Systems, Inc. (ISS). Chris also is involved with the Film, Video, and Music Advisory Commission, a position in which the Governor of Georgia appointed him to.
VentureOne Venture Capital Reports by Dow Jones
I came across Dow Jones’ venture capital statistics and highlights page here. It contains VC reports in Excel format that can easily be downloaded. Check them out. Looks like VC funding is booming again.
YouTube: Leno looks, commonplace Colleges idea crashes, and users bicker over bands
YouTube is making a round of headlines once again, including its introduction of YouTube Colleges, the YouTube Underground Contest, and NBC creating a channel on the site with a clip of Jay Leno discussing his favorite videos he found on YouTube.
Product placement can be a funny thing. Consumers are getting wiser about recognizing when “free lunches” are offered. On September 13, 2004, 257 of Oprah Winfrey’s show visitors received a free customizable $28,400 Pontiac G-6 2005 sports sedan, but then GM was later accused of using a $7 million (out of their $50 million budget) marketing ploy technique. In Season 1, Episode 3: The Talk Show of HBO’s hit show, Entourage, the characters in the show were used to depict how funny the concept of product placement can be when they promised a home theater company that they would wear a hat displaying the home theater company’s logo in exchange for a free home theater on the Jimmy Kimmel Live talk show. And now since NBC and YouTube have a deal, Jay Leno coincidentally featured a “Videos we found on YouTube” on his show. Now, let’s take a look of disgust on his face in the screenshot below:
Next item on the agenda is YouTube Colleges. Colleges are YouTube’s response to Facebook’s popularity of creating a service exclusive to college students. In order to give you a first hand look on what it looks like, I created an account through my Mich. State Univ. e-mail address. Given the fact that YouTube is the #11 most visited website in the world according to Alexa, I figured there must be at least a few thousand users out of the 44,000+ students at MSU registered with YouTube Colleges, but it turns out that there is only a mere 47 members (including myself), 0 College Groups, and 2 Videos. It was a good try, but looks like this idea belly-flopped into a pool of attempts to recreate Mark Zuckerberg’s cash cow. Perhaps they could have made the login page a little bit more personable for different schools. For example, on Saturday, Sept 16, University of Michigan beat Notre Dame in an away game based in South Bend, IN for the first time in 12 years. Use this as a selling point and throw in congratulatory statement to the U of M users of YouTube Colleges. Or maybe at least put in the schools logos. In the screenshot below, I blacked out the usernames for anonymity purposes.
The last item on the agenda is a glance of YouTube Underground. “YouTube is teaming up with Cingular and ABC to create a ‘talent hunt’ for unsigned bands.” The winning band will be given musical equipment by Gibson, VIP passes to an A-List Tour, a featured video on the YouTube homepage, and an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America. If only this was made into a reality show series on YouTube, this whole concept would be interesting. Just imagine the typical conflict monologues between band members on reality shows in this case.
Many people are complaining that YouTube is becoming a corporate puppet, but most technology enthusiasts knew that this moment was inevitable as video server costs are huge and with YouTube having a rate of 60,000 videos being uploaded per day, the bandwidth costs to keep this site alive must be unimaginable. Sometimes, you just have to find a way to pay the bills by any opportunities that come your way whether you love it or hate it.
Venture Pulse – Recent VC Activity and Deals
Considering all the hype around funded companies and web 2.0, I can see why almost everyone believes we are in a bubble. I do not agree. We still have some time before we reach a bubble. It’ll be time to worry when startups start buying Super Bowl commercial spots.
Enough small talk – lets get to the fun stuff. Here is a roundup of recent funding activity. I threw in cutesy comments on some of the companies for your enjoyment.
Dogster – $1 Million from Angel Investors – Not a bad idea. There are a lot of people out there that love their dogs more then their kids. Plus this is one site where the word bitch is not derogatory. Now all they need is a dog to be their marketing VP.
Seventymm – $7.5 Million from Matrix Partners India – Seventymm plans to become India’s NetFlix. I have no idea how it managed to raise $10 Million total so far. Their business model has some major roadblocks ahead. But that’s a whole different post.
Jacked – $0.5 Million from Provenance Ventures – It’s in stealth mode. Who knows what the heck is going on behind closed doors. Let’s just hope this isn’t a social network for jacked body builders. That’d be weird.
Eventful – $7.5 Million from Bay Partners – Another event site that got lots of money. I like Upcoming.org a lot better.
Tremor Network – $8.4 Million from Masthead Venture Partners and Canaan Partners – Rich media is hot and so is rich media advertising. Good for Tremor!
Fliqz – $1 Million from Angel Investors – The site looks like crap. Thats my million dollar Fliqz review.
MyNewPlace – $12 Million from Sutter Hill Ventures and Split Rock Partners – The housing market sucks and the rental market is booming so I am sure MyNewPlace will do well. Plus unlike most apartment search sites, MyNewPlace is a clean site with very few ads.
Vyatta – $7.5 Million from JPMorgan Partners, ComVentures, and ArrowPath Venture Partners – They are an open source network company with a damn cool vision.
I’ll be doing a roundup every few days so make sure to check back often.
Frolicking Venture Capitalists / Mixi
It would not surprise me to see the boys on Sandhill frolic up and down the road this week in light of the Mixi IPO. Social networks are on fire again thanks to Mixi. Thousands of young entrepreneurs can revive their dreams of becoming overnight billionaires just like Kenji Kasahara. I bet the words “Hey if he can do it, so can I.†are fogging the minds of every technology entrepreneur out there. Plus Kenji still owns 64% of Mixi! Yes I said 64%. That’s astounding in a time where most founders hold no more then 10% of their company after a few rounds of investment and stock dilution. Mixi is valued at around $1.9 billion with only 5.7 million users. Yea I’d be happy if I owned 64% of it.
Let’s list some of Mixi’s features that could possibly have led to its success.
1. Like Orkut, Mixi is invite only. That means you have to know someone in the network to join it. Unfortunately, if you are an anti-social emo kid with no friends, getting someone to send you an invitation is probably no walk in the park. But hey, who said life is easy. The invite only model seems to work well for social network sites. By nature, we want what we can’t easily get. Also, you must be 18 to join.
2. You can not be alone on Mixi or you get booted out. If the number of your friends falls to 0 for a certain period, you have to leave the community.
3. You can not have more then 1,000 friends. While most social networks encourage having as many “friends†as possible, many of which are random people, Mixi encourages you to interact with real friends.
4. Your footprint is left throughout the network as you visit profile pages of members. To a certain extent, this is a cool feature. But I am not a fan of features like this. Privacy is important to me on social networks.
5. Like MySpace groups, Mixi has communities you can join.
6. Text messaging (Mobile) capabilities allows members to stay in touch with their Mixi friends from anywhere.
7. There is a music player that allows you to add music tracks to your profile.
Seems like the second and third features are the only ones unique to Mixi. In my opinion, this only means that Mixi had no secret recipe to thank for its success. Lucky for Mixi, its competition in the Japanese social network sector was limited. For a social network, limited competition is a very good thing. I am sure we will see a lot more social networks come out of Asia. India, we are waiting…
Google Hires Political Lobbying Firm, DCI Group
It was reported on BoingBoing.net that Google has hired the DCI Group, a political lobbying and public relations firm notorious for being “lying, astroturfing, push-polling scumbags ” as described by BoingBoing.
DCI Group is known for contributing to anti-Democratic humor which sometimes crosses the line. For example, in August 2006, The Wall Street Journal discovered that the DCI Group created a video and posted it on YouTube for the purpose of ridiculing former Vice President, Al Gore for his take of global warming. The video on YouTube, entitled “Al Gore’s Penguin Army” parodies Al Gore’s documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, which is the former Vice President’s contribution to raising awareness of the effects of global warming.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a professor of communications described the DCI Group video as “Propaganda 101? because it does not contain any factual data and it shows a highly negative image of the former Vice President. Although the DCI Group denied that they had created the video and claimed that the video was an amateur production of a 29-year old in Beverly Hills, the Wall Street Journal revealed that using computer routing information, the videos were connected to a “computer registered to DCI Group.” [Post Gazette]
Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing.net states “I think that I probably share more than 80 percent of Google’s legislative goals — goals like a neutral Internet.” Doctorow states. “But my biggest and most important legislative goal is an America where open democracy, and not lies, push-polls, and sleaze dominate the political process.”
For what purpose is DCI Group on Google’s payroll? Representatives of Google stated that DCI Group Vice President, Stuart Roy, is responsible for lobbying Google’s Print project. As you may be aware, the DCI Group has a solid influence in the political offices in Washington D.C.
DCI Group’s client list also includes major corporations: AT&T, Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobil, GM Corporation, Intel, Merck, McDonald’s, Microsoft, and Qualcomm. As time goes on, Pulse 2.0 will report what further news has come from DCI Group and Google’s partnership.