Ideeli, the closed shopping network where consumers get the scoop on luxury brands at discounted prices, has just secured $3.8 million in Series A funding, led by Kodiak Ventures and angel investors. The network operates by alerting members to sales across its site, email or text message, the shoppers get the excitement while the retailers get a more engaged user base (and cleared inventory).
Combined with pre-sale editorial coverage and giveaways, ideeli’s shopping site has a social component to its site as well as a good amount of appeal to its main demographic. Set up as a tiered service, ideeli also offers a premium account option for those that would like early notice of products for sale.
This elitist approach to a privileged group seems to work very well with this type of shopping network. With Internet shopping becoming more and more commonplace, even more types of shoppers, retailers and business models can take advantage of e-commerce. Gilt, another closed network shoppers delight, was recently received funding as well, while Jellyfish’s social shopping model was very attractive to Microsoft.
Via-Mashable
Monday, December 17, 2007
Musigy--Connecting Musicans Across The World With Virtual Jamming
What Company Is Offering:
Their technology makes it possible for people to make live music together over the Internet. Just plug in your guitar, keyboard, microphone or whatever you’ve got, and make music with other members of the Musigy community. It’s as if you’re in the same room! You see each other on a video screen and play in synch. Musigy Maker offers high-quality sound and ultra-low delays. And best of all, it’s free!
How It Works:
With the Musigy Maker you can record yourself or your distributed jamming session - and upload it to www.musigy.com! You can record both videos or just sound. After testing and proving their technology, they now offer it for free so that EVERYONE CAN MAKE MUSIGY. They’re tremendously excited about the world community that Musigy makes possible, with new connections forming, new music happening, and new stars emerging
How This Company is Going:
Musigy has demonstrated the power of its vision at several huge events: During live broadcast on Russian National TV, 50 million viewers cheered as Musigy enabled musicians in Moscow to play with musicians in Georgia — 1,000 miles away. Musigy also enabled “Jazz@the Speed of Light,” where world-famous jazz stars performed together from different locations thousands of miles apart.
More at:http://musigy.com/
Their technology makes it possible for people to make live music together over the Internet. Just plug in your guitar, keyboard, microphone or whatever you’ve got, and make music with other members of the Musigy community. It’s as if you’re in the same room! You see each other on a video screen and play in synch. Musigy Maker offers high-quality sound and ultra-low delays. And best of all, it’s free!
How It Works:
With the Musigy Maker you can record yourself or your distributed jamming session - and upload it to www.musigy.com! You can record both videos or just sound. After testing and proving their technology, they now offer it for free so that EVERYONE CAN MAKE MUSIGY. They’re tremendously excited about the world community that Musigy makes possible, with new connections forming, new music happening, and new stars emerging
How This Company is Going:
Musigy has demonstrated the power of its vision at several huge events: During live broadcast on Russian National TV, 50 million viewers cheered as Musigy enabled musicians in Moscow to play with musicians in Georgia — 1,000 miles away. Musigy also enabled “Jazz@the Speed of Light,” where world-famous jazz stars performed together from different locations thousands of miles apart.
More at:http://musigy.com/
RootZoo is a user-based sports community where sports fans create the content
What Company is Offering:
RootZoo is a user-based sports community where sports fans create the content. Fans talk and write about sports through threads, articles, and more to bring the state of being a sports fan to the next level. Through a competitive point system, community members earn free prizes simply for their success and participation.
How it Works:
Talk sports on fast-paced threads without having to wait hours and days for responses. Connect with fans of your teams. Talk smack to rival fans to rub in the pain of the burn when their team fails. Write articles and put yourself on the map as a knowledgeable fan. Create the polls that you want to see, to get the answers you want to know. See the best sports video highlights around the web. Find tickets straight from fellow fans, and so much more.
But that's not all. To sweeten the deal, they've got rewards for you. To ensure that their biggest and best contributors are rewarded for their efforts, they've created a point system. As you earn points and hit new levels, privileges are unlocked and your influence as a fan becomes that much stronger. Not bad, huh? There’s more though. As you hit higher levels, there are prizes for you. T-shirts. Free tickets (no, not the nosebleeds).
RootZoo is giving away $100 ticket gift certificates (to be used to see any team you please – even the Grand Rapids rampage if that’s your thing) to the first 250 fans to reach 10,000 points. Through a combination of participation, quality posts, spreading the word about our site and more, you'll be there before you can say Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo (yes, that's his real full name).
Full Detail Of Company: http://www.rootzoo.com/
RootZoo is a user-based sports community where sports fans create the content. Fans talk and write about sports through threads, articles, and more to bring the state of being a sports fan to the next level. Through a competitive point system, community members earn free prizes simply for their success and participation.
How it Works:
Talk sports on fast-paced threads without having to wait hours and days for responses. Connect with fans of your teams. Talk smack to rival fans to rub in the pain of the burn when their team fails. Write articles and put yourself on the map as a knowledgeable fan. Create the polls that you want to see, to get the answers you want to know. See the best sports video highlights around the web. Find tickets straight from fellow fans, and so much more.
But that's not all. To sweeten the deal, they've got rewards for you. To ensure that their biggest and best contributors are rewarded for their efforts, they've created a point system. As you earn points and hit new levels, privileges are unlocked and your influence as a fan becomes that much stronger. Not bad, huh? There’s more though. As you hit higher levels, there are prizes for you. T-shirts. Free tickets (no, not the nosebleeds).
RootZoo is giving away $100 ticket gift certificates (to be used to see any team you please – even the Grand Rapids rampage if that’s your thing) to the first 250 fans to reach 10,000 points. Through a combination of participation, quality posts, spreading the word about our site and more, you'll be there before you can say Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo (yes, that's his real full name).
Full Detail Of Company: http://www.rootzoo.com/
Global Media Fund--Provider Of National Media Exposer For Emerging Growth Companies Which Lacks Multi-Million Dollor Marketing Budget
What Company Is Offering:
Global Media Fund, Inc. specializes in providing massive national media exposure for emerging growth companies that do not have a multi-million dollar marketing budget.
They allow cash-starved emerging-growth companies to compete via national media campaigns.Utilizes the same creative, development, and distribution staff that works on Fortune 1000 client’s accounts to work on equity accounts.No hidden fees. All costs covered in agreements.Media results are guaranteed.
Monthly reports of media campaign, proof of service such as newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, tv ads and radio play logs are provided.Global Media Fund is the ONLY reputable media provider that accepts restricted stock as payment and has NO hidden fees.
How It Works:
Global Media Fund is committed to your business success. They essentially become an investor in your company while providing you with strategic resources to achieve your goals and benchmarks. They provide you with necessary tools for your success — media and financial market exposure — by simply taking stock, not cash, for their services. That means you can use your cash to keep your business growing. Meanwhile, they provide a variety of services that are integral to ensuring your company exceeds its potential. Global Media Fund works with you to develop the right stories about your products, as well as helps you choose the right media vehicles to get you maximum visibility. Seeing your products and services in the newspapers and magazines, on television and on the internet will give your company the third party credibility it needs to attract investors and enhance market awareness. According to a Columbia University study, GMF’s media features are 4 times more effective than traditional .
How Is It Different:
They buy media in bulk and pass the savings on to their clients
Their services include promoting you in 10,250 newspapers, 6,000 arbitron radio stations, national television, internet optimization ,e-mail campaigns ,press release and wire services , exposure in trade magazines related to your products,they help their clients create nationwide campaigns and brand awareness.
They handle all aspects of the campaign including story development, production, copywriting, and placement of the features.Their portfolio companies always have final approval.
Full Detail Of Company:http://www.globalmediafund.com/
Global Media Fund, Inc. specializes in providing massive national media exposure for emerging growth companies that do not have a multi-million dollar marketing budget.
They allow cash-starved emerging-growth companies to compete via national media campaigns.Utilizes the same creative, development, and distribution staff that works on Fortune 1000 client’s accounts to work on equity accounts.No hidden fees. All costs covered in agreements.Media results are guaranteed.
Monthly reports of media campaign, proof of service such as newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, tv ads and radio play logs are provided.Global Media Fund is the ONLY reputable media provider that accepts restricted stock as payment and has NO hidden fees.
How It Works:
Global Media Fund is committed to your business success. They essentially become an investor in your company while providing you with strategic resources to achieve your goals and benchmarks. They provide you with necessary tools for your success — media and financial market exposure — by simply taking stock, not cash, for their services. That means you can use your cash to keep your business growing. Meanwhile, they provide a variety of services that are integral to ensuring your company exceeds its potential. Global Media Fund works with you to develop the right stories about your products, as well as helps you choose the right media vehicles to get you maximum visibility. Seeing your products and services in the newspapers and magazines, on television and on the internet will give your company the third party credibility it needs to attract investors and enhance market awareness. According to a Columbia University study, GMF’s media features are 4 times more effective than traditional .
How Is It Different:
They buy media in bulk and pass the savings on to their clients
Their services include promoting you in 10,250 newspapers, 6,000 arbitron radio stations, national television, internet optimization ,e-mail campaigns ,press release and wire services , exposure in trade magazines related to your products,they help their clients create nationwide campaigns and brand awareness.
They handle all aspects of the campaign including story development, production, copywriting, and placement of the features.Their portfolio companies always have final approval.
Full Detail Of Company:http://www.globalmediafund.com/
Pingg offers consumers, professional and businesses stylish online invitation
What Company is Offering:
They offers consumers, professional and businesses stylish online invitation creation, event management, guest list creation and event reporting
They set out to build a better online invite and event management tool that would provide all that we were looking for, something that would make our lives easier but not force us to compromise on style. They are introducing you to pingg and to share with you the next generation of free digital invitations and online event management tools.
How It Works:
Communicate with your guests at any time in any way. With pingg's SurroundSend™, you can schedule all your event communications and choose your delivery method. SurroundSend™ will automatically email, SMS or mail your invitations as well as notifications and reminders. You can easily create a sophisticated event web page and even post your event to your Facebook profile. With pingg's SurroundSend™ your event is well sent!
SurroundSend™ seamlessly manages all your communications from the first save the date to the final thank you note. The pingg Event Manager provides unprecedented flexibility in organizing your event. You can email, text and/or mail printed invitations, reminders and other communications to your guests. With SurroundSend™ you can also easily notify your guests of changes when the unexpected happens.
Full Detail Of Company:http://www.pingg.com/
They offers consumers, professional and businesses stylish online invitation creation, event management, guest list creation and event reporting
They set out to build a better online invite and event management tool that would provide all that we were looking for, something that would make our lives easier but not force us to compromise on style. They are introducing you to pingg and to share with you the next generation of free digital invitations and online event management tools.
How It Works:
Communicate with your guests at any time in any way. With pingg's SurroundSend™, you can schedule all your event communications and choose your delivery method. SurroundSend™ will automatically email, SMS or mail your invitations as well as notifications and reminders. You can easily create a sophisticated event web page and even post your event to your Facebook profile. With pingg's SurroundSend™ your event is well sent!
SurroundSend™ seamlessly manages all your communications from the first save the date to the final thank you note. The pingg Event Manager provides unprecedented flexibility in organizing your event. You can email, text and/or mail printed invitations, reminders and other communications to your guests. With SurroundSend™ you can also easily notify your guests of changes when the unexpected happens.
Full Detail Of Company:http://www.pingg.com/
Social Design Network
What Company Is Offering:
The Social Design Network is your new common ground that will connect you with people and organizations around the world. This niche community will provide you with resources to form groups and participate in projects, giving you access to their entire network of people who are interested in working with designers like you.
How It Works:
Once you have registered for an account, a confirmation email will be sent to the email address you provided. You will then need to click on the link in the confirmation email to activate your account. Your profile offers you a place to network and connect with their members. The profile also offers you a blog to initiate discussions and respond to members and supporters, serving as your own interactive tool. Their design competitions will challenge you to create smart solutions to social problems using design. They want your participation!
How Is It Different:
In one central location, DESIGN 21 will keep you in the know about how people everywhere are using design to make a difference.
Giving yourself a presence on DESIGN 21 shows your support of social design in this new forum that is THE resource for social design today.
Through your free profile, you may connect and communicate with other designers, non-profit organizations, socially conscious individuals, companies, special interest groups and more.
You can post and respond to the latest design news and share your opinions and concerns.
Organizations (non-profits, companies, government agencies) and individuals in this new community will get to see your designer portfolio, broadening your professional network.
More at:http://www.design21sdn.com/
The Social Design Network is your new common ground that will connect you with people and organizations around the world. This niche community will provide you with resources to form groups and participate in projects, giving you access to their entire network of people who are interested in working with designers like you.
How It Works:
Once you have registered for an account, a confirmation email will be sent to the email address you provided. You will then need to click on the link in the confirmation email to activate your account. Your profile offers you a place to network and connect with their members. The profile also offers you a blog to initiate discussions and respond to members and supporters, serving as your own interactive tool. Their design competitions will challenge you to create smart solutions to social problems using design. They want your participation!
How Is It Different:
In one central location, DESIGN 21 will keep you in the know about how people everywhere are using design to make a difference.
Giving yourself a presence on DESIGN 21 shows your support of social design in this new forum that is THE resource for social design today.
Through your free profile, you may connect and communicate with other designers, non-profit organizations, socially conscious individuals, companies, special interest groups and more.
You can post and respond to the latest design news and share your opinions and concerns.
Organizations (non-profits, companies, government agencies) and individuals in this new community will get to see your designer portfolio, broadening your professional network.
More at:http://www.design21sdn.com/
MyAdSouce gives real communities a leg up by empowering their local newspaper with the technology and tools needed to compete on the global web
What Company Is Offering:
MyAdSouce gives real communities a leg up by empowering their local newspaper with the technology and tools needed to compete on the global web.
How It Works:
The perfect solution for newspapers and print publications losing the online classified battle. Loaded with a variety of user rich features and products to create “stickiness” and new revenue, this technology also comes with powerful back end tools needed for receiving, managing, charging and accepting self service print classified submissions. With this Marketplace you provide your advertisers the ability to utilize the power of print and online in a cross functional user friendly format.With a Servicefront website. Servicefronts provide a 24/7 website that is fully customizable and allows you to advertise your products, services, hours of operation, rates and much more.
Have an inventory of products for sale? Sell them online with a Storefront e-commerce site. No transaction fees, inventory management, credit card acceptance and more! Best of all, we'll bring customers to you with our ActiveMatch technology.
More at:http://www.myadsource.com/
MyAdSouce gives real communities a leg up by empowering their local newspaper with the technology and tools needed to compete on the global web.
How It Works:
The perfect solution for newspapers and print publications losing the online classified battle. Loaded with a variety of user rich features and products to create “stickiness” and new revenue, this technology also comes with powerful back end tools needed for receiving, managing, charging and accepting self service print classified submissions. With this Marketplace you provide your advertisers the ability to utilize the power of print and online in a cross functional user friendly format.With a Servicefront website. Servicefronts provide a 24/7 website that is fully customizable and allows you to advertise your products, services, hours of operation, rates and much more.
Have an inventory of products for sale? Sell them online with a Storefront e-commerce site. No transaction fees, inventory management, credit card acceptance and more! Best of all, we'll bring customers to you with our ActiveMatch technology.
More at:http://www.myadsource.com/
Simkl automatically saves all of your important IM conversations on a secured web server
What Company Is Offering:
Simkl automatically saves all of your important IM conversations on a secured web server, the same way you save your e-mails. And more importantly Simkl does not ask you to install any software, so no viruses or adware ever. Sign up and you will have easy access to your IM conversations from any computer.
Unique Features:
Save IM conversations.
Backup IM contacts.
Web 2.0 style Access to your conversations from anywhere in the world.
Work on multiple computers and have combined history.
Easy access to viewer through history.im.
They are constantly developing new features to suit your needs, such as Full Search capability and ability to Share any conversation with your business partners.
More at:http://www.simkl.com/
Simkl automatically saves all of your important IM conversations on a secured web server, the same way you save your e-mails. And more importantly Simkl does not ask you to install any software, so no viruses or adware ever. Sign up and you will have easy access to your IM conversations from any computer.
Unique Features:
Save IM conversations.
Backup IM contacts.
Web 2.0 style Access to your conversations from anywhere in the world.
Work on multiple computers and have combined history.
Easy access to viewer through history.im.
They are constantly developing new features to suit your needs, such as Full Search capability and ability to Share any conversation with your business partners.
More at:http://www.simkl.com/
Fore Score Golf Stats--Game Managment:
What Company Is Offering:
Fore Score Golf Stats has something for everyone. Whether you are an experienced golfer looking to establish a handicap to use for league play or a novice looking to track your progress and set benchmarks for improvement, you'll find the tools you need at Fore Score Golf Stats.
How It Works:
Click on 'Course' and select 'New Course' to bring up a blank course page. You'll need to enter the course name and information on each hole (par, yardage and hole handicap). If you plan on tracking your personal handicap you'll need to enter the course index and the slope index (you can find this information on your scorecard).
You'll only need to enter each course once. Fore Score Golf Stats will save your course information so you don't have to re-enter it each time you submit a new score.
When you have your course information entered you can start to submit your scores. Click on 'Round' and select 'New Round.' Pick the course you just played from your list of entered courses and you'll be ready to enter your round information. You can enter your scores, number of putts, number of "duffs", number of hazards and whether or not you hit the fairway on your drive. Fore Score Golf Stats will use the information that you provide to offer up dozens of statistics based on your scores.
More at:http://www.forescoregolfstats.com/
Fore Score Golf Stats has something for everyone. Whether you are an experienced golfer looking to establish a handicap to use for league play or a novice looking to track your progress and set benchmarks for improvement, you'll find the tools you need at Fore Score Golf Stats.
How It Works:
Click on 'Course' and select 'New Course' to bring up a blank course page. You'll need to enter the course name and information on each hole (par, yardage and hole handicap). If you plan on tracking your personal handicap you'll need to enter the course index and the slope index (you can find this information on your scorecard).
You'll only need to enter each course once. Fore Score Golf Stats will save your course information so you don't have to re-enter it each time you submit a new score.
When you have your course information entered you can start to submit your scores. Click on 'Round' and select 'New Round.' Pick the course you just played from your list of entered courses and you'll be ready to enter your round information. You can enter your scores, number of putts, number of "duffs", number of hazards and whether or not you hit the fairway on your drive. Fore Score Golf Stats will use the information that you provide to offer up dozens of statistics based on your scores.
More at:http://www.forescoregolfstats.com/
Silicon Valley's best-known venture capitalists's most unusual company
What Company Says:
If you’ve decided to lose weight and get in shape — and if you’ve ever sung along to a song at the top of your lungs because it really meant something to you — then SkinnySongs is made for you........
"Roizen, 49, is one of Silicon Valley's best-known venture capitalists. She has been a pivotal player in the valley for years, and counts both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among her friends. In the 1980s, Roizen co-founded a software company with her brother, and then came up with the idea of selling clip art--mini pictures in software. Clipart made money for her firm--and eventually became a staple of the Internet.
In the mid-1990s, Roizen joined Apple to try to rekindle enthusiasm among software developers for writing for the Mac platform. Roizen did it with flair, marching onto the stage at a developers' conference clutching a briefcase stuffed with cash to show how much Apple wanted to support developers. She helped orchestrate one of Microsoft's biggest acquisitions, the $1.1 billion purchase of Great Plains software.
But in May, Roizen scored a much more intimate big number. She climbed on the bathroom scale and watched as the numbers hit their highest value ever. Although she tried working out and dieting, the campaigns had fizzled. Worse, she was on her way to a board meeting at a startup company located next to a chocolate chip cookie factory. The meeting would feature delightful, fresh-baked cookies. It always did.
"Can't touch those cookies," she thought grimly, as she drove to the board meeting, flipping through the music choices in her car's system to find something to cheer her on. In past years, as she headed into difficult board meetings, she'd treat herself to a blast of defiant music, such as Pink's "18 Wheeler." But on this particular day, nothing suited her mood.
"I need that kind of music to lose weight," she thought. "I need chick empowerment music. I'm going to fit into my skinny jeans. And I wanted the music to be really cool!"
That's when the entrepreneur in Roizen kicked in. Another person might have just made due with, say, the theme song from the movie Flash Dance. But that wouldn't do for Roizen.
Over the next few months, Roizen, who majored in creative writing at Stanford University, scribbled lyrics for a handful of songs, naming the first "Skinny Jeans." Her words were laced with country music-style irony:
From the moment that I saw you, hangin' out at the mall
I had to own you, your rhinestones and all…
For years we were together, every Saturday night,
we'd go out dancin', you'd hold me in tight,
but you were unforgiving and you wouldn't let me grow
Now I can't put you on--but I can't let you go…."
Friends liked them, but electronic musician Thomas Dolby sat her down and asked her if she was just playing, or if she was serious. "He said: 'Is your goal 15 minutes of fame on YouTube?'" Roizen recalled.
Along with penning lyrics, Roizen started researching the business of weight loss. She encountered another set of big numbers: The Food and Drug Administration reports that about 50 million Americans typically say they're on a diet at any given time. About 76% of Americans say they'd like to lose weight.
Doctors told her the biggest challenge for dieters was finding a community that encourages and supports them. But music specially geared at helping people lose weight tended to be meditative or reflective--or worse, simply depressing about how rotten life is on a diet.
All this suggested to Roizen that her mission wasn't to get on the radio--but to develop a new market. "The niche is women who'd like to lose weight and who listen to music," she says. "It's a big, honking niche on the Venn diagram."
A recording goes "platinum" when it sells a million copies. But Roizen realized there are entire collections of recordings that churn out platinum-level sales without ever airing on the radio, namely boxed music sets for children. Roizen didn't want to be a pop star. She wanted to create a successful business. "I've done the math," she says. "I figured that if I was the publisher and lyricist and I owned the 'record label,' I can make the economics work."
Even so, Roizen recognized that the operation was a big gamble--and so decided to fund it entirely herself.
As soon as she realized she wanted to build a business, she started to hire professional help. With guidance from professional music producers, she zeroed in on well-known Nashville music producer and writer David Malloy. Malloy has had 40 songs picked as "No. 1" by various music tracking groups, like Billboard, including, "I Love A Rainy Night." He has worked with singers such as Tanya Tucker and Billy Gilman.
But write music for songs about losing weight? "At first, I thought it was crazy," Malloy admits.
Malloy's friend, recording industry veteran George Daly, "said a lady he had met approached him about some idea of writing song lyrics about losing weight and would I be interested in anything like that," Malloy recalls. "I said, 'I don't want to write songs about losing weight! That's not what I do!'"
Daly persuaded Malloy to give Roizen's lyrics a look.
Malloy read them and was charmed. "I thought the lyrics were really well-written. I could imagine putting some music behind them," he says.
Over the summer, Malloy and Roizen launched into a spirited collaboration: He wrote the music, she honed the verses. They had artistic tussles--she tried to slip the word "liposuction" into one song; Malloy refused.
"Some words just don't sing well," he points out. "'Liposuction! Liposuction!' Come on, I'm already tired of it."
Roizen nixed the liposuction.
Malloy put in "ear candy," including a background chorus singing something about: "I want to wear something sexy, something that barely fits me…."
Roizen objected. "I don't think my target demographic wants to wear something that 'barely fits me,'" she complained.
"Why is it always about your 'target demographic'?" Malloy shot back.
"Because that's what the album is about," Roizen retorted.
By autumn, Roizen and Malloy had put together a collection of 10 songs with musical styles that varied from country-western and pop to rap. Malloy signed up-and-coming musicians. At first, they hesitated about the idea of singing about weight loss, but the music and lyrics won them over.
"There were no strings attached to this project--no radio format. The only criteria I had was: Did the music make me feel good? Did I have fun with it? Was it the kind of music I wanted to play again?" Malloy says. It was, he says, the most artistic freedom he had had in years.
Roizen kept a tight hold on the business side. "There's a big piece of this that's exactly like any other business," she says, ticking off her to-do list: Get incorporated. Invent a catchy name. Hire the specialists. Work on the economics. Push the contributors to make their deadlines. Roizen created a Web site to sell the music (and in the future, possibly other merchandise, such as T-shirts). She got the music registered on iTunes.
By the end of the year, Roizen will have put "several hundred thousand dollars" into creating the Skinny Songs recording. She resigned from Mobius Venture Capital. Her husband even wound up writing this year's family holiday letter, because Roizen was too busy getting the CD ready to ship.
What remains to be seen is if her bet was a smart one--businesswise. Skinny Songs is just going on sale now, first on her website, then on iTunes. Roizen is also deep into plans for partnerships and promotions, particularly with health clubs.
Would she have funded someone else if they came to her, the venture capitalist, and pitched the idea of starting a music company that would produce music that inspired people to lose weight? "I don't know," Roizen concedes. "I see a lot of women my age, waking up and saying, 'I want to do something personally meaningful to me.' I say to them: 'Is this about personal gratification? Or is it a real business?"
Whatever the outcome of Skinny Songs, the entrepreneur in Roizen has no regrets. "I woke up and said, 'This is what I have to do--even if it fails.'" she says. "This idea is just too compelling for me to let it slip by."
And unlike the usual startup experience of late nights and pizza that pack on the pounds, this time, the entrepreneur lost weight. Roizen says she's down a full 30 pounds since that day in May.
Malloy admits he lost weight, too. "Don't you think I had to?" he asks. "You can't work on songs like this and not lose weight!"
More at:www.skinnysongs.com
Via-Uncommon
If you’ve decided to lose weight and get in shape — and if you’ve ever sung along to a song at the top of your lungs because it really meant something to you — then SkinnySongs is made for you........
"Roizen, 49, is one of Silicon Valley's best-known venture capitalists. She has been a pivotal player in the valley for years, and counts both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among her friends. In the 1980s, Roizen co-founded a software company with her brother, and then came up with the idea of selling clip art--mini pictures in software. Clipart made money for her firm--and eventually became a staple of the Internet.
In the mid-1990s, Roizen joined Apple to try to rekindle enthusiasm among software developers for writing for the Mac platform. Roizen did it with flair, marching onto the stage at a developers' conference clutching a briefcase stuffed with cash to show how much Apple wanted to support developers. She helped orchestrate one of Microsoft's biggest acquisitions, the $1.1 billion purchase of Great Plains software.
But in May, Roizen scored a much more intimate big number. She climbed on the bathroom scale and watched as the numbers hit their highest value ever. Although she tried working out and dieting, the campaigns had fizzled. Worse, she was on her way to a board meeting at a startup company located next to a chocolate chip cookie factory. The meeting would feature delightful, fresh-baked cookies. It always did.
"Can't touch those cookies," she thought grimly, as she drove to the board meeting, flipping through the music choices in her car's system to find something to cheer her on. In past years, as she headed into difficult board meetings, she'd treat herself to a blast of defiant music, such as Pink's "18 Wheeler." But on this particular day, nothing suited her mood.
"I need that kind of music to lose weight," she thought. "I need chick empowerment music. I'm going to fit into my skinny jeans. And I wanted the music to be really cool!"
That's when the entrepreneur in Roizen kicked in. Another person might have just made due with, say, the theme song from the movie Flash Dance. But that wouldn't do for Roizen.
Over the next few months, Roizen, who majored in creative writing at Stanford University, scribbled lyrics for a handful of songs, naming the first "Skinny Jeans." Her words were laced with country music-style irony:
From the moment that I saw you, hangin' out at the mall
I had to own you, your rhinestones and all…
For years we were together, every Saturday night,
we'd go out dancin', you'd hold me in tight,
but you were unforgiving and you wouldn't let me grow
Now I can't put you on--but I can't let you go…."
Friends liked them, but electronic musician Thomas Dolby sat her down and asked her if she was just playing, or if she was serious. "He said: 'Is your goal 15 minutes of fame on YouTube?'" Roizen recalled.
Along with penning lyrics, Roizen started researching the business of weight loss. She encountered another set of big numbers: The Food and Drug Administration reports that about 50 million Americans typically say they're on a diet at any given time. About 76% of Americans say they'd like to lose weight.
Doctors told her the biggest challenge for dieters was finding a community that encourages and supports them. But music specially geared at helping people lose weight tended to be meditative or reflective--or worse, simply depressing about how rotten life is on a diet.
All this suggested to Roizen that her mission wasn't to get on the radio--but to develop a new market. "The niche is women who'd like to lose weight and who listen to music," she says. "It's a big, honking niche on the Venn diagram."
A recording goes "platinum" when it sells a million copies. But Roizen realized there are entire collections of recordings that churn out platinum-level sales without ever airing on the radio, namely boxed music sets for children. Roizen didn't want to be a pop star. She wanted to create a successful business. "I've done the math," she says. "I figured that if I was the publisher and lyricist and I owned the 'record label,' I can make the economics work."
Even so, Roizen recognized that the operation was a big gamble--and so decided to fund it entirely herself.
As soon as she realized she wanted to build a business, she started to hire professional help. With guidance from professional music producers, she zeroed in on well-known Nashville music producer and writer David Malloy. Malloy has had 40 songs picked as "No. 1" by various music tracking groups, like Billboard, including, "I Love A Rainy Night." He has worked with singers such as Tanya Tucker and Billy Gilman.
But write music for songs about losing weight? "At first, I thought it was crazy," Malloy admits.
Malloy's friend, recording industry veteran George Daly, "said a lady he had met approached him about some idea of writing song lyrics about losing weight and would I be interested in anything like that," Malloy recalls. "I said, 'I don't want to write songs about losing weight! That's not what I do!'"
Daly persuaded Malloy to give Roizen's lyrics a look.
Malloy read them and was charmed. "I thought the lyrics were really well-written. I could imagine putting some music behind them," he says.
Over the summer, Malloy and Roizen launched into a spirited collaboration: He wrote the music, she honed the verses. They had artistic tussles--she tried to slip the word "liposuction" into one song; Malloy refused.
"Some words just don't sing well," he points out. "'Liposuction! Liposuction!' Come on, I'm already tired of it."
Roizen nixed the liposuction.
Malloy put in "ear candy," including a background chorus singing something about: "I want to wear something sexy, something that barely fits me…."
Roizen objected. "I don't think my target demographic wants to wear something that 'barely fits me,'" she complained.
"Why is it always about your 'target demographic'?" Malloy shot back.
"Because that's what the album is about," Roizen retorted.
By autumn, Roizen and Malloy had put together a collection of 10 songs with musical styles that varied from country-western and pop to rap. Malloy signed up-and-coming musicians. At first, they hesitated about the idea of singing about weight loss, but the music and lyrics won them over.
"There were no strings attached to this project--no radio format. The only criteria I had was: Did the music make me feel good? Did I have fun with it? Was it the kind of music I wanted to play again?" Malloy says. It was, he says, the most artistic freedom he had had in years.
Roizen kept a tight hold on the business side. "There's a big piece of this that's exactly like any other business," she says, ticking off her to-do list: Get incorporated. Invent a catchy name. Hire the specialists. Work on the economics. Push the contributors to make their deadlines. Roizen created a Web site to sell the music (and in the future, possibly other merchandise, such as T-shirts). She got the music registered on iTunes.
By the end of the year, Roizen will have put "several hundred thousand dollars" into creating the Skinny Songs recording. She resigned from Mobius Venture Capital. Her husband even wound up writing this year's family holiday letter, because Roizen was too busy getting the CD ready to ship.
What remains to be seen is if her bet was a smart one--businesswise. Skinny Songs is just going on sale now, first on her website, then on iTunes. Roizen is also deep into plans for partnerships and promotions, particularly with health clubs.
Would she have funded someone else if they came to her, the venture capitalist, and pitched the idea of starting a music company that would produce music that inspired people to lose weight? "I don't know," Roizen concedes. "I see a lot of women my age, waking up and saying, 'I want to do something personally meaningful to me.' I say to them: 'Is this about personal gratification? Or is it a real business?"
Whatever the outcome of Skinny Songs, the entrepreneur in Roizen has no regrets. "I woke up and said, 'This is what I have to do--even if it fails.'" she says. "This idea is just too compelling for me to let it slip by."
And unlike the usual startup experience of late nights and pizza that pack on the pounds, this time, the entrepreneur lost weight. Roizen says she's down a full 30 pounds since that day in May.
Malloy admits he lost weight, too. "Don't you think I had to?" he asks. "You can't work on songs like this and not lose weight!"
More at:www.skinnysongs.com
Via-Uncommon
Clavardon allows visitors to chat with each other or with connected sales managers on a Website
What Company Is Offering:
Clavardon (from French Clavarder, to chat) is a very innovative tool targeted for companies that sell products and services online. Clavardon allows visitors to chat with each other or with connected sales managers on a Website.
How It Works:
Clavardon provides the possibility to co-navigate (co-browse) interactively: visitors are able to control each others' navigation. Unlike any live support solutions, Clavardon was not only made to support customers online but to provide your website with a tool that brings real interactivity and social exchange between visitors. Clavardon brings more life to your Website and helps you build an online community around your Website that will increase your sales and grow your online business.
How It Will Helpful:
Tranform any e-commerce in a real market place.
Attract new visitors.
Build customer loyalty.
Maximize your popularity.
Improve user experience.
First real co-browsing tool.
Based on reliable and secured technologies.
More at:http://www.clavardon.com/
Clavardon (from French Clavarder, to chat) is a very innovative tool targeted for companies that sell products and services online. Clavardon allows visitors to chat with each other or with connected sales managers on a Website.
How It Works:
Clavardon provides the possibility to co-navigate (co-browse) interactively: visitors are able to control each others' navigation. Unlike any live support solutions, Clavardon was not only made to support customers online but to provide your website with a tool that brings real interactivity and social exchange between visitors. Clavardon brings more life to your Website and helps you build an online community around your Website that will increase your sales and grow your online business.
How It Will Helpful:
Tranform any e-commerce in a real market place.
Attract new visitors.
Build customer loyalty.
Maximize your popularity.
Improve user experience.
First real co-browsing tool.
Based on reliable and secured technologies.
More at:http://www.clavardon.com/
Virtual Ventures, a revolutionary way to evaluate the commercial viability and value of ideas
What Company Is Offering:
Virtual VenturesSM, a revolutionary way to evaluate the commercial viability and value of ideas.
Virtual Ventures offers users an opportunity to Review new technologies, from major companies, to Predict their success for commercialization, Earn cash by networking and referring these technologies, and Watch the deals unfold.
How It Works:
Virtual Ventures -- predict the commercial success of new software products. "Invest" in the ones you think will succeed.
Virtual Ventures is an exciting online community that allows individuals to invest virtual dollars in real technologies from real companies and see real results as these technologies are brought to market.
Enterprises now have a scalable, efficient, and cost-effective solution to assess the viability of internal technologies and convert them into revenue-generating assets using a crowd of active predictors.
Virtual Ventures is the online idea market that leverages prediction market science to determine the commercial viability of technologies. With Virtual Ventures, organization can submit internal software technologies for evaluation by a crowd of interested participants that are members of the Virtual Ventures community.
More at:http://www.virtualventures.com/
Virtual VenturesSM, a revolutionary way to evaluate the commercial viability and value of ideas.
Virtual Ventures offers users an opportunity to Review new technologies, from major companies, to Predict their success for commercialization, Earn cash by networking and referring these technologies, and Watch the deals unfold.
How It Works:
Virtual Ventures -- predict the commercial success of new software products. "Invest" in the ones you think will succeed.
Virtual Ventures is an exciting online community that allows individuals to invest virtual dollars in real technologies from real companies and see real results as these technologies are brought to market.
Enterprises now have a scalable, efficient, and cost-effective solution to assess the viability of internal technologies and convert them into revenue-generating assets using a crowd of active predictors.
Virtual Ventures is the online idea market that leverages prediction market science to determine the commercial viability of technologies. With Virtual Ventures, organization can submit internal software technologies for evaluation by a crowd of interested participants that are members of the Virtual Ventures community.
More at:http://www.virtualventures.com/
Brightcove can help you grow your business
What Company Is Offering:
Brightcove empowers content owners—from independent producers to major broadcast networks—to reach their audiences directly through the Internet. At the same time, we help web publishers enrich their sites with syndicated video programming, and they give marketers more ways to communicate and engage with their consumers.
Most importantly, they give people the freedom to easily find, watch and participate in a broad range of video content—when and where they choose.
How It Works:
1. Publish Quickly
Create interactive video, audio, and image experiences without all of the overhead of web development and infrastructure. Focus on your content, programming and design - we'll take care of the rest.
2. Have Total Control
Create unique user experiences and run things on your own terms. You Have Control over everything from design of the user experience to distribution & monetization of your content.
3. Interact With Viewers
Accept video uploads from your audience and leverage sharing features to turn your uniques into contributors. Brightcove makes interacting with your audience straightforward and easy to control.
4. Grow Your Audience
Brightcove gives you powerful ways to broadcast your content across the web and grow your audience online. Turnkey distribution through major destination sites and automatic listing with search engines put your content in front of the largest audiences on the web.
5. Monetize Your Content
Generate revenue as your audience grows using state-of-the-art advertising capabilities and turnkey paid download services. Additionally, use rich media to drive traffic to related products & services on your site and unlock even more revenue potential.
More at:http://www.brightcove.com/
Brightcove empowers content owners—from independent producers to major broadcast networks—to reach their audiences directly through the Internet. At the same time, we help web publishers enrich their sites with syndicated video programming, and they give marketers more ways to communicate and engage with their consumers.
Most importantly, they give people the freedom to easily find, watch and participate in a broad range of video content—when and where they choose.
How It Works:
1. Publish Quickly
Create interactive video, audio, and image experiences without all of the overhead of web development and infrastructure. Focus on your content, programming and design - we'll take care of the rest.
2. Have Total Control
Create unique user experiences and run things on your own terms. You Have Control over everything from design of the user experience to distribution & monetization of your content.
3. Interact With Viewers
Accept video uploads from your audience and leverage sharing features to turn your uniques into contributors. Brightcove makes interacting with your audience straightforward and easy to control.
4. Grow Your Audience
Brightcove gives you powerful ways to broadcast your content across the web and grow your audience online. Turnkey distribution through major destination sites and automatic listing with search engines put your content in front of the largest audiences on the web.
5. Monetize Your Content
Generate revenue as your audience grows using state-of-the-art advertising capabilities and turnkey paid download services. Additionally, use rich media to drive traffic to related products & services on your site and unlock even more revenue potential.
More at:http://www.brightcove.com/
Trooker is an up-to-the-minute video viewing community
What Company Is Offering:
Trooker is an up-to-the-minute video viewing community. With Trooker you can find and watch videos continuously, get alerts when there are new videos on your topic of interest, and create your own sets of videos from anywhere on the net. With Trooker, you can trook your friends and share your watching experience by instantly exchanging videos with them.
How It Works:
Trooker currently searches real-time online video communities such as YouTube, MySpace, Metacafe, DailyMotion and LiveVideo.Sending your video choices to friends and instant messaging each other within Trooker is what they call “trooking”. You can trook individual videos or you could even trook complete video sets. Interesting videos make for some very interesting conversation. There are some who say that this is more addictive then…
Creating a Video Set is a way you can organize your favorite videos that you have saved to your Trooker viewer. If you create a set, you can choose which videos to include, move them around, and if you like, you can publish it. This makes the set available on the internet. You can embed your set onto your blog, MySpace or Facebook page. The people that visit your page will be able to see your choice of videos running continuously, as well as any additional images and comments that you want to incorporate.
More at:http://www.trooker.com/
Trooker is an up-to-the-minute video viewing community. With Trooker you can find and watch videos continuously, get alerts when there are new videos on your topic of interest, and create your own sets of videos from anywhere on the net. With Trooker, you can trook your friends and share your watching experience by instantly exchanging videos with them.
How It Works:
Trooker currently searches real-time online video communities such as YouTube, MySpace, Metacafe, DailyMotion and LiveVideo.Sending your video choices to friends and instant messaging each other within Trooker is what they call “trooking”. You can trook individual videos or you could even trook complete video sets. Interesting videos make for some very interesting conversation. There are some who say that this is more addictive then…
Creating a Video Set is a way you can organize your favorite videos that you have saved to your Trooker viewer. If you create a set, you can choose which videos to include, move them around, and if you like, you can publish it. This makes the set available on the internet. You can embed your set onto your blog, MySpace or Facebook page. The people that visit your page will be able to see your choice of videos running continuously, as well as any additional images and comments that you want to incorporate.
More at:http://www.trooker.com/
BlogCharm--Get Paid For Blogging
What Company Is Offering:
BlogCharm will pay members by splitting all advertising inventory and sponsorships. On member blogs the top thinbar will contain text ads where members will share 50% of the inventory and revenues generated from them. This will be a mixture of paid ads where members get paid each time their blog is seen and not just when somebody clicks on an advertisement which works much differently than programs like AdSense. Each time your blog is seen you get paid! BlogCharm even goes further to make money for members where they split site sponsorship revenues 50/50 as well. For example. If we sell a main page sponsorship for $500 per month members will split 50% of the total take.
How It Works:
BlogCharm will be introducing a whole new way for bloggers to enjoy building a blog and get paid doing it!
Get blogging and help them build up a network of blogs so they can demand more money for site sponsorships! As a blog network everyone will be included in the rewards and as the bigger the blog network grows the more we can sell sponsorships for. That means more money to you!.
More at:http://www.blogcharm.com/
BlogCharm will pay members by splitting all advertising inventory and sponsorships. On member blogs the top thinbar will contain text ads where members will share 50% of the inventory and revenues generated from them. This will be a mixture of paid ads where members get paid each time their blog is seen and not just when somebody clicks on an advertisement which works much differently than programs like AdSense. Each time your blog is seen you get paid! BlogCharm even goes further to make money for members where they split site sponsorship revenues 50/50 as well. For example. If we sell a main page sponsorship for $500 per month members will split 50% of the total take.
How It Works:
BlogCharm will be introducing a whole new way for bloggers to enjoy building a blog and get paid doing it!
Get blogging and help them build up a network of blogs so they can demand more money for site sponsorships! As a blog network everyone will be included in the rewards and as the bigger the blog network grows the more we can sell sponsorships for. That means more money to you!.
More at:http://www.blogcharm.com/
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