TechCrunch
What #Music's Failures Teach Us About Twitter's #TV Future
Twitter #Music hasn’t exactly shaken the firmament of the musical landscape. After releasing the admittedly gorgeous app on the iOS App Store early this year, it has drifted down the charts and the general consensus is that it’s a relative dead end.
How Twitter rolled out #Music, and what it learned from the app, will likely inform how it handles a move to embrace a more important media frontier: TV, or rather #TV.
After its experiments with #Music, Twitter is on the verge of serving up a new television-oriented experience to users of its core apps. This effort will likely be positioned to avoid the failures of #Music and take advantage of the strengths of the platform.
#Music Stands Alone
At the time, the launch of a standalone app dedicated to music made some sense. Pop artists are among the most followed and influential users of the service. Lots and lots of Twitter users follow these artists. Offering them the ability to listen to music programmed by their industry favorites seemed to be a cool use of Twitter’s data.
It also played off of a trend that Twitter had begun earlier in the year with the video sharing app Vine.
Vine, though it was an acquisition Twitter had made, marked the first high-profile external app designed to feed content and interaction back into the main service itself. Previous to this, Twitter had been focused on the main product, adding features like Cards and other engagement-boosting features.
Vine marked a departure, and then #Music followed shortly thereafter. For a while it looked like there was going to be an ongoing trend of Twitter offering up sections of the service as standalone apps.
The #Music app was well designed, with a crisp modern interface and a very attractive browsing method for users looking to discover new music. But, while launching an external app that presented ‘music data’ seemed cool and a good idea, it was a misfire.
Pre-IPO Twitter is all about demonstrating its usefulness and indispensability to users at large. It’s in the midst of trying to project the message that it’s an ‘active’ service. You put things in, you get things out, the process is cyclical.
#Music was all about passive consumption of the feed but — even worse — it was free of context. There were no conversations happening in or around #Music. No playlists, no real way to comment on the musical tastes of the ‘programmers’ of the channels. The kinds of conversations that happen on Twitter proper around music and television weren’t happening in #Music.
From what we understand, the fact that #Music did not do well is well known in the halls of Twitter. The VP who drove its development, Kevin Thau, left just days after it was released to head to Biz Stone’s startup Jelly. We don’t know why he went, but the feeling of some at Twitter is that the app was rushed and the development was handled poorly, leading to a rough launch. Perhaps Thau was just as unhappy with the way it came out.
Obviously, if we can tell from the outside how badly it went, Twitter itself knows. And that’s why the strategy when it comes to leveraging these streams of ‘music data’ has changed dramatically over the past couple of months.
There has been a handful of updates that boost #Music’s ability to help you ‘find’ new music, including scanning your library and suggesting things like songs or new artists to follow. But the most important changes have been the deals that Twitter has cut with Apple, Spotify and Rdio.
Apple is already a Twitter partner, so it didn’t seem too surprising to see a Twitter Music channel pop up as an option in iTunes Radio. Then, Twitter launched a #Music app for Spotify which duplicates some of the same categories and discovery stuff powered by Twitter’s We Are Hunted acquisition. Later, Twitter cut a deal with Rdio to offer several of #Music’s charts inside the app.
From what we understand, one of Twitter’s big discoveries was that people want music, but they don’t want to pay for it. You can help people to ‘discover’ music all you want, but if they have to buy it off of iTunes to continue to listen, they’re not interested.
With these streaming deals, Twitter gets to be associated with cutting edge musical acts and being a place to interact with those artists, but inhabits existing silos of data rather than creating its own enclosed space.
With these deals, Twitter changed its stance to reflect the realization that it’s best to go where the users already are. A stance that it seems likely to carry through when it launches its TV-focused update.
If #Music had been a runaway success, I don’t doubt that we’d see the service getting even more attention and expansion. It’s highly likely that we’d also see separate apps dedicated to media of other types like #TV, #Movies and more. Twitter has an incredible platform that collects an amazing amount of data every day on all kinds of media consumption. As it stands, I wouldn’t expect too many more updates to the #Music app, which is all but dead at this point. It’s served its purpose.
But the real strengths of Twitter don’t lie in presenting this information passively. Instead, it’s about taking advantage of its real-time nature to offer an experience that feels ‘alive’ and active. This is the lesson learned from #Music, and one that Twitter will likely apply to future media-related efforts, including TV.
Twitter #TV
Twitter is about to embrace the TV in an enormous way, and for very good reason.
Twitter has built a little reputation for itself, especially among those who closely follow the company, of being willing to treat its users like guinea pigs. Twitter isn’t alone here, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at Disrupt that there are hundreds of ‘versions’ of Facebook out there at any given time. But Twitter experiments so much with its design and layout that it actually had to make an official statement that its PR department can refer press and interested parties to to explain why ‘their Twitter’ doesn’t look like a friend’s Twitter.
But not all of Twitter’s experiments are of the ‘A/B testing’ variety. It also has a department dedicated to experiments that it hopes will result in better user engagement and follow behavior. That department was responsible for the recent @Magicrecs account which used an algorithm to recommend you accounts to follow and tweets to read. This feature was recently folded into the apps themselves as a push notification that will function in much the same way.
Another test which could see its way into the Twitter apps proper soon is these ‘trending’ banners for TV shows that have been appearing at the top of app users’ timelines. The banners come in a variety of flavors that feature show information, a click-through action that reveals relevant accounts and tweets and more.
This is what Twitter learned from #Music. Rather than launching a separate #TV app, it seems much more likely at this point that Twitter will keep any new television-oriented features it launches ‘in house’ in the official apps.
The feature might look a little like the above (fake) mockup, though recent reports via All Things D pin down the new design as having no buttons, offering a swipe-able interface of feeds. That might make sense on the iPhone, but not so much on the iPad. We’ll see how that shakes down in the final version, given Twitter’s penchant for experimentation.
In our hypothetical mockup of the app above, you’ll note that TV gets its own section outside of Discover., you’ll note that TV gets its own section outside of Discover. I’m up in the air on this one, as I haven’t heard either way, but giving TV its very own feed outside of the traditional ‘Discover’ tab makes some sense. Especially given how important television has become to Twitter.
Each show in the feed could be paired with tweets about it, including synopsis or analysis articles alongside tweets from ‘regular folks’ just chatting about the show. Perhaps even media embedded in tweets with highlights of a program. The message of the whole thing would be very clear though: this is a conversation happening right now and you can join it.
Leveraging the real-time nature of Twitter will be instrumental to the success or failure of Twitter and TV. Facebook is gunning hard for the television market, and has been releasing big numbers surrounding ‘interactions’ generated by Likes and comments. Depending on how you interpret those numbers, Twitter either has its work cut out for it or has little to worry about.
Twitter has been working on this TV thing in a dedicated fashion for quite a while. It made itself into a bona-fide internet TV ratings system with Nielsen and recently started rolling out ad-targeting programs to woo TV money. It’s convinced that it has more to offer to TV than Facebook, and Facebook is just as convinced of the opposite. I doubt this tit-for-tat will be settled soon, but there’s a strong case to be made that Twitter is actually in the better position, for now.
A Good Match
The key to understanding the value of a Twitter #TV product is to remember that the marriage was an organic one. TV had been on this long slide towards being a sort of ‘dumb pipe’ of its own. On-demand was (still is) on the rise and people are watching stuff out of order, in binges and much later than ‘live’. Twitter re-invigorated the concept of ‘event watching’ for everyday shows.
Twitter is in fact now a reason to watch television, because you know people will be discussing it both during the show and the next day
This kind of behavior ties in strongly with Twitter’s mission to be a ‘town hall’ of sorts. A digital water cooler for distributed workforces to gather around. Remote working, the real-time nature of Twitter and the trend towards time shifting are just a couple of the factors that have made Twitter+TV a bet both sides are willing to make.
A user presented with a codified place to view conversations around a particular show or series — right within the Twitter app they already have installed — might feel more willing to interact. This also fits in with Twitter’s struggle to get lurkers to become contributors. Part of the problem with Twitter, aside from its sometimes off-putting terminology, is that it’s hard to convince people that it’s ok to ‘say’ stuff there.
Replying and participating in hashtag conversations around a TV show seems like a really good gateway drug to get people hooked on the call and response of a Twitter conversation.
Out beyond that, it seems like Twitter might be the right company to do something about the quality of conversation when it comes to blog posts. We do get good and thoughtful comments on posts themselves, but I find that best conversation around my posts typically happens on Twitter. Whether that comes in the form of criticism, debate or reinforcement, it’s impossible to ignore the quality of Twitter discussion.
As Twitter expands its role as a place to have conversations, the comments vertical might be worth looking at, if it isn’t already.
Twitter’s re-invigorated TV pitch includes ways to get users to interact with shows and each other that could do something to offset skepticism of its success so far. Some additional intriguing signals include Twitter Amplify, a system for embedding clips in tweets in almost real-time and a ‘DVR’ function which could re-play tweets for those watching a show.
“That ability to track and monitor the moments within an event, either as they happen or to catch up with them, is something we want to enhance,” Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said at a recent Center for Technology Innovation panel. “We want to make that experience even better, curating the moments within the event, the media from it, and making it that much easier to navigate.”
Television and Twitter appear to be a strong match, but the whole second-screen social component of TV is in such an early state that it’s impossible to tell how this shakes down. Facebook and Twitter are about to start slugging it out in earnest over TV and it’s going to be fun to watch.
Image Credit: Andrew Booth / Flickr CC
Lista, A Used Goods Marketplace, Raises $9M To Attack Mobile
Listia, the marketplace for used and free goods, has closed a $9 million Series A led by General Catalyst, with partner Neil Sequeira joining the startup’s board. As mobile growth takes off for the startup, the team will be using that financing to build out their iPhone and Android apps. It’s also looking to expand internationally, although that won’t happen until 2014 at the earliest.
The round brings the YC graduate to $11.17 million in funding, after it last raised a $1.75 venture round in 2011.
About one-third of buying and 20% of listing activity currently takes place on mobile, Listia co-founder and CEO Gee Chuang said. Although their iPhone app launched a solid two years ago with the Android version following in early 2012, mobile use is up 100% in the last three months.
“When we launched [the apps] they were these companion utilities,” Chuang said. “Our users, when they were away from the computer, used apps. In the last few months we’ve launched different updates to the apps to get them to be very standalone.”
In addition to the free goods that can be purchased on the peer-to-peer marketplace, Listia has been rounding itself out as a shopping destination with the launch of a rewards store earlier this year. Listia originally partnered with Best Buy to provide inventory for the rewards store, which lets users put credit they’ve earned through selling to others toward new electronics, and they have now added Amazon Gift Cards to the roster as well.
“We’d love for lots of not just niche but broad retailers to have their items available in reward stores to provide more value. Imagine there’s a store where you can trade in all your old stuff. That’s the vision we have,” Chuang said.
The vast majority of users are still buying on the peer-to-peer marketplace, Chuang noted, and that’s where the team is investing its main efforts. The rewards store is brand new stuff at brand new prices, and the better deals and discoveries are to be had on the used goods side.
“We’re creating a trade-in program for everything in your home,” he said. “iPhone trade-in programs are really hot right now, but for us it’s like, ‘What about everything else?’”
As far as international expansion goes, Listia hasn’t made any moves yet and Chuang estimated that the timeframe would be next year sometime. Canada and the UK could be early targets, since Listia is seeing early activity there.
Because Listia users trade in credits, the marketplace already has an international currency that transcends local dollar amounts, Chuang said. Listia also enabled the exchange of digital goods like game and gift card codes recently, meaning not all foreign sellers would have to pay for shipping. Digital goods could further extend to CAD files as 3D printing becomes more commonplace, Chuang said.
HTC Moves To Tweak The HTC One Ahead Of Possible U.S. Import Ban
Things could get even worse for HTC if the battered smartphone maker doesn’t move quickly. The WSJ is reporting that following a preliminary U.S. court win by Nokia, HTC is facing a possible import ban in its major overseas markets including the U.S. The ruling covers older HTC phones, but apparently the hot HTC One and other new devices also utilize the same radio technology covered in the lawsuit.
The WSJ is reporting that HTC is now working with Qualcomm to alter components to prevent another possible lawsuit. HTC is in rough shape as it is. Another lawsuit, or worse, an import ban, would douse the smartphone maker with more water as it tries to bail its already-sinking ship.
HTC is expected to report its first quarterly loss since its 2002 initial public offering. HTC is desperate, recently unloading its equity in Beats Electronics to try to shore up the smartphone maker’s cash balances. Once a top player in Android, HTC’s marketshare is shrinking, leading it to look at alternative markets including building a mobile OS for the Chinese market.
Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant told the Journal that even though the Nokia lawsuit started in 2012, before the HTC One hit the market, Nokia believes the One also violates its patents and would be included under any potential International Trade Commission ban.
HTC apparently has time before the final ruling in January 2014 to convince the ITC to reverse this ruling or present a workaround. It’s unclear at this time what HTC’s course of action might be, but this just adds to the company’s already overloaded pack animal. It likely won’t take much more to break its proverbial back.
Russian Mobile-First Banking Startup, RocketBank, Nabs $2M From Runa Capital
Another startup seeking to shake up the banking market with a convenient, mobile-first approach has bagged $2 million in seed funding from Runa Capital. Russia’s RocketBank launched its service in July 2012 and has since accrued “a few thousand” users. Its iOS app includes the ability to pay a person without having to know their bank details — instead, users can pick who they want to pay from their phone address book or enter an email address or e-wallet number.
RocketBank is not a bank itself, rather it’s a mobile app with banking abilities — much like an MVNO is not a mobile network operator but can still offer cellular services by piggybacking on carriers’ networks (h/t to my TC colleague Steve O’Hear for that analogy). RocketBank is currently partnering with Intercommerz Bank in Russia to power transactions and store customer accounts. Its users get a platinum Visa debit card and its iPhone app to do all their personal banking.
Services RocketBank currently offers its users include free card loading and cash withdrawal at any ATM worldwide, money transfers, expenditure analysis, a discount guide, application support, and an air miles program (users making card purchases with RocketBank’s card get 1.5% of the value of purchases in air miles). It charges users a fixed monthly fee of 290 rubles (approx. $9) for the service.
Notably the business model does away with the variable complexities of standard banking costs and expenses — such as transfer fee charges — and replaces them with this “light banking” model (aka the fixed $9 fee), a pricing structure that may not be free but is at least transparent.
What RocketBank users do not get (apart from free accounts) are branded bank branches that they can go into to talk to RocketBank staff face-to-face — making the app-based service more likely to appeal to a younger demographic. ”Great design and latest technology are the most convenient way to interact with our target audience,” said Victor Lysenko, CEO of Rocketbank, in a statement.
RocketBank — and other startups in this mobile-first banking space — have spotted an opportunity to do something traditional banks are typically failing to do fast enough: build slick mobile-focused banking services. By pushing faster to develop banking apps and mobile services that app-loving consumers crave, they have a chance to steal a march on banking giants and build customer momentum, especially in markets where traditional banks are still fiddling around mobile’s edges.
RocketBank says it’s banking (pun intended) on the viral appeal of its mobile address book money transfers to help spread word of its app from user to user “when outreaching to the European markets”. Fuelled by its new funding round, it’s planning to enter several new markets next year, and spend on further developing the functionality and building an Android version — moves it’s hoping will enable it to bump its user-base up to the ”tens of thousands” in 2014.
Other (European) mobile-first banking startups that spring to mind include Avuba, which pitched at TC’s Berlin meet-up earlier this year, and Centralway-backed Numbrs. The ambitions of the latter appear the broadest of the three, with the stated aim of ultimately enabling users to manage data and conduct transactions across multiple bank accounts, rather than just manage one account.
RocketBank specifically likens its approach to banking startups in other markets, including Simple.com (U.S.), moven.com (U.S.), FidorBank.de (Germany), and holvi.com (Finland).
Prior to today’s seed round, RocketBank’s first VC investment, founders Victor Lysenko and Oleg Kozyrev (who were both among the founding team of Groupon Russia), put in $200,000 to get the idea off the ground.
The pair came up with the idea for RocketBank after Lysenko’s bank card was blocked during a trip to the U.S. and he was unable to reactivate it because it was a national holiday in Russia. That led them to research the Russian financial services market and unearth a distinct lack of “quality online and mobile banking services” — providing the business opportunity for RocketBank to step in.
Commenting on the funding round in a statement, Ilya Zubarev, senior partner, said: ”Runa Capital invests in technology projects that can compete in global markets. Rocketbank is exactly such a company with a strong team, innovative approach to banking, and its own philosophy of service. We are confident that Rocketbank has the potential to gain recognition among millions of clients around the world.”
Is Bitcoin The New Euro?
Originally dubbed ‘the single currency,’ the euro has been around for a decade and was in the works for another decade before it entered circulation in 2002. At the time, it was something revolutionary, a bold initiative that could have failed multiple times along the way.
Yet, it hasn’t become the universal currency and the European Central Bank is now testing the boundaries of the euro. Bitcoin could be the surprising and beautifully designed world cryptocurrency that will take the euro’s dreams to the next level. We will discuss this at Disrupt Europe later this month.
Bitcoin Is The True Single Currency
There are a few reasons why the euro will always stay limited in scope. As one can read in 1992′s Maastricht Treaty (the Treaty on the European Union), the euro is “a single and stable currency,” nothing fancier than that. In other words, its creation mechanisms are similar to those of any other modern currency. There is a central bank, there are interest rates.
Moreover, stating that the euro is a “stable currency” is already very political. It refers to Germany’s old traumatism of hyperinflation — at all times, the euro has to avoid inflation. This is probably the most important way the European Central Bank differs from the U.S. Federal Reserve — price stability comes first in Europe. Even though politics and monetary policies are supposed to be separate, this rule proves that it’s not the case.
These days, as everyone can see with Greece’s economic troubles, the only adjustment variable is jobs. When a eurozone country is no longer as competitive as its neighbors, prices stay the same. Consumption falls and the unemployment rate rises. To fight unemployment, many have to accept pay cuts. European governments would rather create a giant help fund than endanger the euro’s stability.
For all these reasons, the euro is just another traditional currency used in a few countries. It shares all the same weak points.
By definition, Bitcoin is apolitical. It is its greatest strength and weakness.
Bitcoin is nothing like that. It was born on the idea that nobody could regulate it. Instead of having a central bank, Bitcoins are just a chain of characters defined by algorithmic rules. Anybody can try to find new Bitcoins and anybody can verify if it is indeed a real Bitcoin or not. All of this is handled by open-source Bitcoin applications and a few proprietary variants.
By definition, Bitcoin is apolitical. It is its greatest strength and weakness. As long as you have access to the right technological tools (a computer, internet access…), you can make transactions in Bitcoins. When the economy thrives or stagnates, Bitcoin will have its own separate trend. As the great crash of April 2013 shows us, it is as volatile as it can get. While it is still early to see significant mainstream Bitcoin use cases, the story of this new currency is a fascinating one.
And we’re excited to reveal that we will hold a panel at Disrupt Europe in late October in Berlin with Shakil Khan (CoinDesk) Pamir Gelenbe (st-ART/Bitcoin London) and Nejc Kodric (Bitstamp). Khan is an expert when it comes to Bitcoin news, while Gelenbe has successfully organized the Bitcoin London conference. Finally, Kodric is the co-founder and CEO of the largest European Bitcoin exchange, and the second one in the world behind Mt. Gox. They will all have interesting thoughts to share on the future of Bitcoin, its caveats and more.
Bitcoin’s Weaknesses
What happens when your Bitcoin wallet value in euros falls by 50 percent in a day? If your company pays you in Bitcoins, it sounds like bad news. The future of Bitcoin as a mainstream currency is unclear. Make no mistake, the euro will remain the dominant currency in eurozone for now.
To avoid disastrous news like that, many countries, including the U.S. and Germany, are trying to regulate Bitcoins. If you really want to use Bitcoins, you’ll have to prove that you’re ready to handle the financial risks.
Back in August, a federal judge in Texas has declared that Bitcoin was a currency and should be regulated just like euros or U.S. dollars. This decision threatened Bitcoin’s utopian concept.
“The only limitation of Bitcoin is that it is limited to those places that accept it as currency,” wrote Judge Amos Mazzant. “However, it can also be exchanged for conventional currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, Euro, Yen, and Yuan. Therefore, Bitcoin is a currency or form of money,” the judge continued.
Bitcoin won’t be able to remain an unregulated currency for long
Similarly, New York’s financial services stated that Bitcoin companies should respect the current financial regulatory guidelines. Making sure that these companies are all on the same page when they operate in the U.S. is necessary to protect customers. Moreover, New York’s top banking regulator wants to write a new set of rules to decrease illegal Bitcoin activities.
“We have also seen instances where the cloak of anonymity provided by virtual currencies has helped support dangerous criminal activity, such as drug smuggling, money laundering, gun running, and child pornography,” Financial Services superintendent Benjamin M. Lawsky said in a statement. ”Taking steps to root out illegal activity is both a legal and business imperative for virtual currency firms,” he added.
Finally, following a parliamentary inquiry, Germany stated that Bitcoin should be considered as “private money.” It has many implications, starting by paying sales tax (VAT). While the conclusions are simple, the execution is more complicated as Germany is a mere member of the eurozone. If Germany really wants to pursue this further, it will probably have to lobby European institutions to change the rules on a European level.
All these rulings prove one thing: Bitcoin won’t be able to remain an unregulated currency for long. It won’t work similarly in every country of the world. Soon, Bitcoin users and companies will have to find a way to avoid tax, and authorities have a say in what you are doing with your Bitcoins.
It is not necessarily a bad thing as using a totally unregulated currency is unsustainable for many industries and use cases. But Bitcoin’s true purpose is not what everyone originally expected.
Bitcoin Is The First Meta-Currency
The Bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer payment network, you don’t need any banking institution to make large transfers. Instead of replacing the euro, the cryptocurrency could become the first meta-currency, a new currency that sits on top of traditional currencies for very specific use cases.
With the euro, European Union member countries wanted to create a second world currency to compete with U.S. dollars. Having a dominant currency has many advantages. According to French historian Jacques Rueff, countries (such as the U.S.) who use a major currency can sustainably keep a negative balance of payments — he calls that the “deficit without tears.”
Bitcoin could become the first meta-currency that sits on top of traditional currencies
In many ways, the European Union was successful with the euro. While it hasn’t become the universal currency, no one can deny that the euro is a major world currency. But now that two different currencies matter on a global scale, economic agents need a tool that sits between U.S. dollars and euros. Currently, about 100 percent of foreign exchange transactions involve dollars (out of 200 percent because forex transactions involve two currencies) compared to 64 percent for euros.
Bitcoin can become the common language between USD and EUR. To use Bitcoins in Italy or Ecuador, you don’t have to pay any fees. Moreover, you can exchange some Bitcoins in dollars when you’re investing in Ecuador, or exchange some Bitcoins in euros when you’re investing in Italy. Bitcoin is a money transfer protocol as much as a currency. For now, this aspect is underused but could actually become Bitcoin’s most interesting future prospect.
Disrupt Europe will take over Arena Berlin October 26-29. Tickets are currently on sale here. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, opportunities can be found here. If you are interested in Startup Alley, information can be found here. Join the conversation by using #DisruptBerlin here.
(Image credit: Zach Copley)
Evite Makes The Move To Printed Invites With Launch Of “Evite Ink”
Evite, a brand known for its digital invitations and other social planning resources since its founding in 1998, is announcing a new product today which will allow consumers to send out printed paper invitations in addition to, or as an alternative to, their online invites. The new service, the first of many new initiatives expected to arrive in the coming months, is being called “Evite Ink.”
The name rings a bell. The service competes with other products on the market today, including a slew of mobile greeting card apps like Sincerely Ink (which might not be flattered by the new Evite brand), as well as Red Stamp, Shutterfly’s Treat, Cleverbug, and others. It would have also competed with Apple’s Cards app, but that was recently discontinued with the launch of iOS 7, possibly indicating a lack of consumer adoption.
So where does Evite think its offering will fit in, as a later entrant to this space? According to Evite President Hans Woolley, the idea is to extend the invitation process to physical products for a subsection of a user’s guest list. That would make sense for those planning family gatherings where not everyone is as tech-savvy, for example, or for reaching those who fail to RSVP online, or for those where you just want to send a more personal invitation than what digital invites alone offer.
“Ten years ago, printed invitations like this weren’t exceptional – that was more or less the norm,” says Woolley. “Today, it gives you the opportunity to do something unique and different that helps you stand out. There’s something about getting [an invite] in your postal inbox – especially if it’s from Evite,” he says. “It’s a name you’re familiar with and a brand you trust.”
At launch, each invite will cost a flat $2.00 to send, which is competitive with the other greeting card services on the market. Initially, around 80 to 85 percent of Evite’s designs will be available as a paper card option, with the goal of bringing all designs on board in the near future. The 4″x6″ cards are printed through a partner, with high-pixel densities and fidelity between the card on the screen and its offline counterpart, Woolley claims. And a code on the card lets the postal recipients RSVP at Evite.com/RSVP, too.
As the service ramps up, Evite will consider other options, like bulk pricing for larger invite lists, for example. It will also work to bring the service to its mobile app user base over the next couple of quarters. That leaves more time for a handful of mobile startups to continue to grow their user base, while Evite plays catch up.
Evite still likes to call itself a startup after 15 years. It has just 30 employees who have together built products to reach 31 million registered users (16-18M monthly actives) who now send out 28,000 invitations per hour. The company won’t discuss what sort of revenue those consumers bring in, however. But now its digital invitations business is seeing a shift, where some 30 to 50 percent of Evite’s traffic is mobile in some form – whether from smartphone apps, mobile websites, or tablets. A significant portion of its user base (close to 2 million) have also downloaded the Evite mobile app.
Woolley says the company built Evite Ink, in response to consumer demand for such a service. And he hints that the product is one of many yet to launch. Today, Evite also offers eCards via Evite Postmark, and party planning supplies through an online store, but Woolley couldn’t say to what extent each of its product lines are contributing to revenues.
However, he would say that going forward “Evite is embracing mobile in a very large way,” which suggests not only mobile app integration, but possibly other mobile-focused products as well. Stay tuned, perhaps.
As Robot Mannequins Fail To Scale, Virtual Fitting Room Fits.me Thinks It's Found The Answer
When UK/Estonia-based virtual fitting room startup Fits.me first outed its solution to the try-for-size-before-you-buy problem of clothes shopping online, it was technologically eye-catching to say the least. Robot mannequins that can be adjusted to mimic any body shape and size were dressed in each garment and thousands of photographs taken to enable shoppers with corresponding body measurements to visualise how they would fit.
It was also expensive, raising inevitable questions around how Fits.me would scale. To answer that question, the company, which closed a $7.2 million Series A round in April, offers a second, lower-end, solution that is photography-free, simply matching a consumer’s own self-measurements with those taken directly from the item of clothing. The idea being that its fully-fledged and more expensive “Virtual Fitting Room” is suited to high-end fashion retailers whose range of clothing is smaller and has higher margins, or for the most profitable percentage of a larger retailer’s inventory. In other cases, the retailer can fall back on the cheaper “Fit Advisor” option.
Today, however, Fits.me is announcing two new “innovations” that it thinks goes even further to solving the scaling problem, both from a customer and retailer’s point-of-view.
For retailers, it’s introducing “one-size garment measurement” for its low-end Fit Advisor option that means to acquire measurements for hundreds of garments in multiple sizes, retailers only need to measure a single size of garment, with Fits.me’s algorithm taking care of the rest. If that sounds like a bit of a fudge, Fits.me claims that this results in as little as 2.5% loss of accuracy, which it says is negligible.
The cost benefit, of course, is much higher, which the company is inevitably talking up as the breakthrough needed to pick up more retail customers. “This is going to put our virtual fitting rooms on the agenda for any retailer previously put-off virtual fitting rooms by the prospect either of locating, aggregating and measuring entire collections or of accepting the inferior technique of using design measurements instead of actual measurements,” said Peter Rankin, VP Sales, in a statement.
The second innovation is aimed squarely at consumers who may have been put off by the requirement to measure themselves in order to virtually try-on clothes. Powered by what Fits.me claims is one of the largest databases of real-body measurements, which it’s presumably built up since launch, its newly developed algorithm estimates body measurement based only on a shopper’s age, height, weight and general body shape. Once again, the company says any loss of accuracy is negligible in terms of providing fit information. Self-measurement is known to sometimes be woefully inaccurate, after all.
In terms of traction, Fits.me says it now has 26 virtual fitting rooms deployed in nine countries, though it doesn’t break out how many of these are the lower-cost or more expensive solution. It will also be interesting to see if uptake picks up significantly, both new client wins and actual usage by consumers, based on today’s product innovations.
To that end, existing clients include Austin Reed, Avenue 32, Baukjen, Bilka, CC Fashion, Crew Clothing, Dirty Jerz, Ghost, Hawes & Curtis, Henri Lloyd, HUGO BOSS, Isabella Oliver, John Smedley, L.K.Bennett, M&Co, Mexx, Musto, Nicole Farhi, Pretty Green, QVC, Savile Row Company, Superdry, Top Vintage, Thomas Pink and Viyella.
Of course, Fits.me isn’t without competitors (we’ve previously likened the virtual fitting room market to a space race). These include Virtusize, True Fit, Metail and Clothes Horse – to name just a few.
Monsanto Buys Weather Big Data Company Climate Corporation For Around $1.1B
Good morning everyone. Today’s big acquisition, a huge agritech exit: Bio tech company Monsanto has bought Climate Corporation for approximately $1.1 billion. While the Monsanto press release says $930 million, we’re hearing from investors that the actual price is past the $1 billion mark because part of the all-cash deal is paid out over time as a retention plan.
This is a pretty cunning move. It comes on the same day that Monsanto — the world’s largest argibusiness company — reported a larger-than-expected, increased 4th quarter loss, of $249 million, or $0.47 per share.
Monsanto is positioning this acquisition as part of a longer-term recovery plan, and a tip of the hat to bigger issues around ecology: Climate Corporation’s technology to monitor and track climate change helping Monsanto manage future risk better. Monsanto has weathered (pun intended) a lot of bad PR over the years around issues like genetic modification and the general trammelling of smaller agricultural enterprises, so it will be interesting to see how Climate Corporation fits into that mix.
Below is my invite to the media call at 8am, and here is a link to the press release on the Monsanto home page.
Good morning,
Monsanto just announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire The Climate Corporation for $930M. The full press release and supporting information is available on http://www.monsanto.com.
The acquisition will combine The Climate Corporation’s expertise in agriculture analytics and risk-management with Monsanto’s R&D capabilities, and will provide farmers access to more information about the many factors that affect the success of their crops.
We would like to invite you to join us later this morning for a call related to today’s announcement. We’ll use this call to provide details about the announcement and then have an opportunity to take some of your questions.
David Friedberg, chief executive officer of The Climate Corporation and Monsanto’s executive vice president of global strategy, Kerry Preete will provide an overview of the announcement.
Climate Corporation is backed by Founders Fund, Khosla, Google Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures and Atomico. The company uses machine learning in order to predict the weather and other essential elements for agribusiness.
Monsanto focuses on providing seeds, biotechnology traits and crop production products for farmers around the world. The acquired company will continue to operate as the Climate Corporation, and Monsanto will leverage its big data expertise to optimize farming globally.
The COO of Climate Corporation Greg Smirin tells me that the acquisition is an ideal fit for both companies: “As we all know, the weather is becoming more extreme. We found that we had kindred spirits with the folks at Monsanto. The data science that we have developed can be applied to improve seed production immensely.”
Climate Corporation CEO David Friedberg comes from an interesting tech background. He is an ex-Googler, where he served as one of its first corporate development execs. (One of the deals he tried to do while there was to convince Google to buy Skype, according to Index’s Neil Rimer, who wrote the first VC check for Climate Corp., a $300,000 seed round. Obviously that deal never happened, but he ushered in a number of other biggies for Google nevertheless.)
Here’s an interview with Friedberg from last year when they picked up $50 million:
Additional reporting by Ingrid Lunden.
Amidst Obamacare's Marketplace Madness, The YEC Wants To Help Startups Take The Hassle Out Of Health Insurance
Amid partisan shenanigans, a government shutdown and much squabbling, The White House launched a new website today that will eventually allow Americans to compare the price of health insurance plans — which is now mandatory under the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare. While the exchange, or the Insurance Marketplace as it’s being called, did in fact go live this morning, it’s been having a rough day, thanks to technical issues and an onslaught of heavy traffic.
Today has been a showcase of how challenging it will be to bring coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, reiterating many of the concerns that entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses across the country have had in anticipation of Obamacare going into effect in January. In response, one organization is taking steps to help startups navigate these new premiums, exchanges, compliance issues — and the change health insurance landscape as a whole — with the launch of StartupInsurance, a portal where startups can go to buy health insurance and other policies.
The new resource is a product of The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only and non-profit organization of entrepreneurs that aims to provide small businesses with the resources, mentorship and tools they need to thrive — and counts executives or co-founders of startups like ReTargeter, Yodle, Disqus, Klout, Hipmunk, Rent The Runway, Hootsuite and Indiegogo, to name a few, as members.
The organization has been developing its new portal over the last year in the hopes of providing a resource and “insurance destination,” says YEC founder Scott Gerber, which will contain a curated collective of providers and affordable insurance plans from around the country. The goal, he explains, is to provide startups, business owners and all those likely to transition into self-employment as a result of being able to purchase health insurance, with direct access to affordable plans that are compliant with Obamacare. Minus the confusion and time sink, of course.
Thanks to the direct carrier partnerships the YEC has been able to strike, StartupInsurance will give entrepreneurs access to “one of the largest medical footprints in the U.S.,” with insurance options available in nearly every state.
“In speaking to thousands of entrepreneurs, freelancers and small business owners over the years, we have learned what is important to them, what’s working for them–and most importantly, what isn’t,” Gerber says. “And this direct feedback has guided our thinking in creating StartupInsurance — it’s meant to be a destination created by the people it aims to serve.”
The idea, according to Gerber, is that the YEC has done the homework for startups so that they don’t have to worry about spending the time, energy and resources it usually takes to assemble these packages and navigate the new exchanges.
When asked what the plans will cost when the portal officially goes live with Obamacare in January, what kind of coverage will be offered and so on, Gerber said that he isn’t able to discuss the details yet for legal reasons — in other words, because he is not a broker himself. However, we do know that, like Kayak and other metasearch engines have done for years in travel, The YEC will be paid referral fees every time it sends a customer to one of its insurance partners and, while other carriers will no doubt enter the fold over time, as of now, the portal’s chief insurance carrier is Assurant Health.
In conversation with the New York Times, however, a spokeswoman for Assurant said that the plans “were the same plans Assurant already offered,” which is certainly a good deal for the insurance carrier, but doesn’t necessarily seem like it will guarantee startups access to the most affordable plan.
Other questions remain as well, particularly around what will differentiate StartupInsurance.com from the two additional portals YEC is launching, SmallBusinessInsurance.com and FreelancerHealthcare.com, other than the fact that they will be serving their own particular verticals. However, the YEC founder did point out that the freelancer portal will not be offering group coverage and that differences between the three will be come clearer overtime, as the organization incorporates feedback from startups and entrepreneurs and preps for January.
While some of the plans that the portals will be offering will not, in fact, comply with Obamacare’s provisions for minimum value — meaning that they’d have to pay the penalty of the individual mandate — Gerber said that, after speaking to thousands of business owners, the YEC found that a portion of entrepreneurs would be willing to pay a tax penalty in order to receive more affordable coverage. The portal, he continues, will offer an array of Obamacare-compliant plans, but that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for startups. Instead, some will prefer to incur the tax penalty in exchange for accessing its lower premiums — as well as a destination that could be decidedly less noisy.
The YEC founder rightly points out that, today, many insurance providers are moving away from offering individual or small group coverage, because, put simply, the new regulations will make it difficult for brokers to make money off of these types of customers — and plans. It’s a fact that has led companies like Zenefits — which helps startups set up and manage group health coverage, payroll and other benefits by automating the process in the cloud — to believe that there’s opportunity in this space. Or, said another way, there’s a gulf that’s growing as insurance brokers move away from small group coverage, and someone has to meet the demand.
It’s likely that, rather than compete, the two will likely be able to help each other meet the growing demand among small businesses that are looking to comply with Obamacare and get their employees covered. The YEC’s portals still have some time before Obamacare goes into effect in January, and it will need to be able to distinguish its three portals from each other, and make clear the benefits of each.
Startups and entrepreneurs themselves will need to decide whether the inexpensive, affordable option is what they want, or whether costlier, fuller coverage is a better way to go in the long run. But, either way, for startups, the more options and the less headache they have to wade through, the better.
After all, as Gerber says, “we want to stay away from all this partisan nonsense … in the end, healthcare is a personal decision, and one startups and entrepreneurs need to make for themselves.”
Readers can find more of our coverage on the launch of the White House’s health insurance exchanges here or find StartupInsurance at home here.
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