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Getting An Idea Off the Ground
I had two meetings yesterday both with two very interesting, intelligent and entrepreneurial guys. The first meeting was with an individual who runs a search fund and is pursuing a leveraged buyout of an “offline” company with approximately $5 million in revenues. Additionally he helps “brick and mortar” companies get off the ground. Other than he works offline and I online we have very similar job functions in that we both nurture early stage startups.
The second meeting was with an individual who is a fountain of ideas for improving our web experiences as they relate to online content. Even though both meetings were separate they actually could have fit together very nicely. In the first meeting we discussed the need for a firm like TOKiBiz who can do a lot of the grunt work for venture capital and investment firms – that is weed through a lot of great local talent and ideas.
To explain further, I meet with a steady flow of entrepreneurs who have energetic and creative ideas for making the web a better (and more profitable) place. My role with these entrepreneurs is to help them get their idea off the ground and onto the web. Most of the work I do is before the seed financing stage of a business – that is we craft the business for them to present to investors.
In some cases the amount of financing needed to launch an application is very low so we’re easily able to finance, develop and launch a successful application on our own. With others this is definitely not the case and sizable funding is needed to execute the idea – sizable for us. This is unfortunate since many of these ideas are brilliant. All of them are from individuals with considerable work experience but this is their first venture into entrepreneurship – which often means they lack the financial connections an established entrepreneur has.
In the case of the second meeting yesterday the amount of funding needed is more than any of us can gather on our own. This is unfortunate because his idea is exceptional and could change the way we monetize content, but there is a synapse between the idea and those who can finance that idea. The gap occurs in not knowing which investor or corporation would jump on this idea once they discover its existence. It’s this divide that TOKiBiz is looking to bridge by connecting the best ideas with the best resource to fund the application. This pre-development stage is normally to early for VCs, angels don’t have the resources (time) to weed through the ideas, attend the meetings, develop the business model and brainstorm the possibilities, and corporations never thought to look at the problem from this perspective. We do!
What I do with TOKiBiz is meet with as many entrepreneurs as possible and help guide their idea into a business. We have the technical and business contacts (and experience) to assist on this front but we desire the investment and/or corporate contact(s) for whom we can present the best of the best to. For example, we have a retail application that most retailers would drool over if they only knew it existed. With TOKiBiz they have the opportunity to get in at a fraction of the cost that they would incur if built on their own.
Like a VC firm I weed through a lot of ideas and proposals that come to me – many don’t get past the email stage. If the idea intrigues me enough then I’ll schedule a face to face meeting to learn more. Generally these first meetings are meant to get a better understanding of what the entrepreneur is trying to create – most of it entails listening and asking questions. From here I usually take the time to let the idea soak in to see if it sticks. If yes then we generally meet again to brainstorm and start thinking about execution. It is the process up to this stage where we at TOKiBiz can provide the most benefit to VCs, angels and corporations looking to capture the next great thinker, idea and application. The beauty of this stage is the capital needed is less for a larger percentage of ownership. In most cases we can build the application much more efficiently than a corporation would do if built internally. Own a fraction of more for a fraction of the cost.
I use to think that at some point ideas would eventually run dry. Now I know this is definitely not the case for there are millions of ways to make our lives better. Ways that we never thought of before and ways that couldn’t exist without the idea launched previous to ours. For ideas keep building on the ideas of those who came before us.
Types of Internet Startups & Websites
The current breakdown of the types of internet startups listed on Bizak.com.
Internet Ideas
Everyone has an idea but how we execute that idea is often more valuable than the idea itself. Many ideas are not unique. The uniqueness comes about in the individual’s perception (and execution) of that idea. Facebook was not a unique idea, however it was executed at a perfect time and at a perfect place. In Facebook’s case simple was better. The web has given simple ideas a platform where they can shine. Experience definitely helps, however a unique solution to a common problem become great ideas.
How Much?
Choosing a revenue model for an online business is a very difficult task. Advertising or subscription based? If subscription then how much? Not an easy question and possible one that should be placed in the hands of the buyer. As Radiohead displayed last fall you can still be profitable selling music even when the buyer decides on price. For some a Radiohead “CD” might be worth $20 or $30 dollars but for non-fans the value might only be $2. In today’s digital download era the cost of selling one copy is the same as selling one hundred copies. So when the cost to sell another copy is zero wouldn’t it be better to sell it at any price rather than not selling it at all?
Radiohead brought up a very interesting business concept in determining the value of a product. The cost of a product is not the same for everyone since not everyone values the product the same. Their choose your own price experiment brings up a very interesting revenue model for internet startups. Why not let your visitors choose the price of your service? Since it costs virtually nothing to add another subscriber to your website wouldn’t it be better to get $4 out of him rather than nothing at all? $4 might be less than expected but at least you have a new customer, four dollars and the potential to sell him additional services in the future. If you lost him to price then you’re out $4, a new customer and the potential for future income from him.
It’s this up-selling that Radiohead was betting on in terms of concert tickets and t-shirt sales. Internet entrepreneurs should be thinking of up-selling in terms of consulting services and new web applications. Since musicians can’t physically play more than 365 gigs a year the choose your own price model could become far more lucrative for the internet where the ability to scale is endless.
Video Post – Features & Benefits of Bizak
Many thanks go out to Nwokedi Idika for his terrific video post highlighting many of the features and benefits of Bizak. Nwokedi is the founder of eSposure.com, a place where you can upload your video demonstrations, products and services.
Visit eSposure at: http://esposure.com
Nwokedi’s Bizak Video
Working in Groups with Wiggio
One benefit of Bizak is that I get introduced to a ton of great internet applications. Wiggio, founded by a Cornell University senior, is an online platform enabling students (and others) to work in groups. These groups allow registered users to keep a common calendar with the ability to receive updates via text messages. With Wiggio you can also poll groups and most impressively send mass text messages to all of your group members.
Wiggio is heavily focused on academic collaborations and is a perfect fit for clubs, organizations, frats and dormmates.
Visit Wiggio at: http://www.wiggio.com
Wiggio is one example of some of the great web applications coming out of today’s college campuses. We at Bizak understand that many of these student entrepreneurs are short on funds and because of that we have a special program for college students.
Additional information about Bizak’s college promotion can be found at: http://www.bizak.com/student_entrepreneurs
Comparative Analysis on Bizak.com
After many long months Bizak is almost ready to launch. We just finished our comparative analysis page (click image below for screen shot) and we will be opening up our tools for startups shortly. After a few weeks of data aggregation we’ll be opening up the site to investors and professionals.
Benchmarking Web 2.0
Well, after many months of development (and 2 months behind schedule) Bizak is soon set to release. The screen shot above gives you an idea of what Bizak looks like. The text below gives you an idea on what it will accomplish. To receive an invitation to our launch please click the link below:
Request an Invitation to Bizak’s Launch
Entrepreneurs use Bizak to calculate the profitability of their business according to website analytics and key performance indicators. With visitors, revenues and costs data, Bizak automatically computes revenues per visitor (RPV), costs per visitor (CPV), earnings (profit/loss), earnings per visitor (EPV) and valuation (The Bizak Estimate.) Each one of these calculations can then be compared to other startups and industry benchmarks. With these calculations entrepreneurs are then invited to join Bizak’s elite network of investors and business professionals who are eager to invest in your profitability.
Investors use Bizak to discover new investment opportunities. From the calculation of comparative benchmarks investors can evaluate the earnings potential of startups in comparison to their competitors and industry. The Bizak Estimate gives investors an approximate valuation of internet startups based on revenues, traffic and EPV. This valuation can then be compared to other startups and the industry mean. Investors can also quickly calculate high and low valuations from a range of revenue multipliers.
Professionals use Bizak’s comparative traffic analysis to discover new advertising and business opportunities. With Bizak professionals can target business partners according to industry, application type and revenue source. Startups can then be sorted and compared according to traffic, revenues, RPV, costs, CPV, EPV, earnings and the Bizak Estimate. Click on a specific company and it will provide you with their business summary, contact information, and monthly results.
Location Based Social Networking
TechCrunch published an article on Saturday about when an iPhone only social network application will launch. This is called Location Based Social Networking and it basically utilizes the location tracking software of iPhones (any phone with GPS for that matter) to “discover” individuals in your immediate proximity.
Location based social networking is definitely not new or revolutionary but very difficult (financially and technically) to implement. Since I don’t have the deep deep pockets to implement this application I thought I would share my ideas for a new web and mobile phone application that is built around a location based social network.
Location Based Social Network (LBSN)
A location based social networking application connects people from within a location rather then friends of friends. With Facebook you make friends and then view their photos. With a LBSN application you connect via location (bar, restaurant, Fenway Park, etc.), then view photos based on that location. Friends are made not by connections but rather locations – people who have been to the same place as you.
Location
Facebook joins people with connections – who they know. A LBSN would make connections based on where we’ve been. Interactive maps “mark” a location (a bar, restaurant, concert hall, coffee shop, etc. ) The “mark” will then link to that location’s page (ie. Starbucks at Harvard Square) which contains a “news feed” of the latest photos/texts/videos captured from mobile devices at that location. The feed lists the most recent posts (photos, videos, text) to that location. Each post links to the profile of the subscriber who uploaded the photos/videos. You can then connect with the subscriber and add him/her to your friends list.
Sharing Posts from a Common Location
For example, college kids take a TON of pictures at bars – especially late at night. Everyone in the bar wants to see those pictures. Guys want to see pictures of the girls and the girls want to know who the guys are.
Say we are at Matt Murphy’s in Brookline Village. We log into LBSN with our mobile phone and it immediately knows our location to be Matt Murphy’s, Brookline. We then take a photo of our friends and send it to the social network. That photo automatically gets tagged according to location and gets added to the Matt Murphy’s (location) news feed for everyone to see. (Posts are also added to the subscriber’s news feed that both links to the post and the location where it was taken.)
Another guy at the end of the bar takes a video of his friends and sends it to LBSN. It too gets added to the Matt Murphy’s page for everyone to see. A girl sends a text to the LBSN commenting on the crowd at the bar.
Now everyone at Matt Murphy’s can view, watch and read the latest posts from the bar and comment back in real time. Their friends at home can log in via the web, view the Matt Murphy’s page and see all the fun they’re missing out on.
LBSN has become viral because it not only spreads via the web but also from word of mouth by individuals within the same location. A guy talking to a girl taking photos next to him wants to see them too so he registers with the social network right there at the bar.
The bar (location) has every incentive to promote their LBSN page. The more posts on their LBSN page (especially for bars) the more business it will draw. It’s a real time update of what’s happening right now at any given location. For those at home it’s sort of like a live web cam feed – but at NO cost to the location but of great benefit to them.
The bar (location) can also advertise specials on their LBSN page to promote repeat customers. The bar already knows that everyone has already been there so the potential (via advertising) to get them back is much easier. Advertisements can also be disguised as photos, texts and/or videos built directly into the news feed – seen both by those currently at the bar and at home.
Business
The same premise can work for business connections whether at a meeting, conference or trade show. Take a video of the conference and everyone at that location can view it. Advertisers can sneak business card into the news feed and the conference hall can promote upcoming events.
Music
A location based social networking application would work perfectly for concerts. Not only can people at the concerts view live photos from others but more importantly those at home can view videos of the event while it’s happening. Those at home can visit the Fenway Park location to view photos and videos of The Police show while it’s happening. If they don’t know where The Police are playing they can go directly to The Police LBSN page and (with tagging) see the real time feed from Fenway Park. They can also view previous videos from Madison Square Garden, Chicago and more.
History on Your Phone
By enabling the viewing of posts based on location you can in essence view the digital history of that location. If you’re standing in the middle of a ball field you can turn on your LBSN phone and view photos and videos from games past. While at the MFA you can view posts that others took when previous exhibits where on display. View photos from a party in your dorm room before you actually lived there.
A location based social networking application allows you to capture video/photos in real time and view the digital history of a particular location while at that location. YouTube, Flickr and Facebook display photos/videos from the past – location based social networking is right now!
Source: Tom O’Keefe at www.TOKiBiz.net. If you want to develop a location based social networking site, or want to help Tom fund, implement and/or develop a location based social network, then feel free to contact him at 617-947-8071 or the email above.
What (and Who) is Bizak?
We at TOKiBiz are progressing nicely with the development of Bizak and we’ve recently published a PDF giving you a bit more information about Bizak. The PDF also contains a slight glimpse of the web application. Please feel free to download the PDF (via the link below), copy it to your computer and email it to your friends.
Homepage: www.Bizak.com
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Tom O'Keefe 