DISQUS

I like u coz you wrote such a nice post!

But the winner so far is "Mac" - dude, if you really said so you're my new fucking hero!! LOL

Guys, if you fancy joining ilikeucoz on Facebook there's the group here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gi...

Great thoughts and highly enjoyable post (I'm still laughing at the very true "fear and shagging both command strong emotions which can result in a buying decision").

Keep up the good work with Rummble!

Nick is an awesome chap, I confirm. :)

Awesome review. When you sign up to the site insert the code "vd08" to get a special Holiday promo.

Cheers

Am I right in saying that Like.com is in the same space? They would be a hell of a competitor!
Across the pond, we have Pixsta which is doing very similar stuff... worth checking it out. http://www.pixsta.com

However, the real killer app for any of these services would be the ability to upload an image of - say - the $500 shoes you want and from that starting point get alternatives. In this case *cheaper* would probably be the most important attribute, otherwise the price is only one of the things that comes into play, not the most important per se.

Cheers

I'd add MatchMine to the list. Not to be cruel but because I think they were working on very cool stuff.

I don't know your source for this list but I like the huge selection of Apple articles!! :)

My 2 cents... http://tinyurl.com/5m43hx and http://tinyurl.com/6b5nm4 - 2 great additions for your loved iPod!

@Shira @Dave Kinsella - The way I read it is that the team should be very good / worth an acquisition but the product isn't and don't fit into Six Apart's strategy, which is not necessarily the worst thing in the world, but it sounds to me like the proof that the current service didn't succeed. One thing is a service and another is the team behind it.
Anyway, I don't want to judge anyone (even because I don't know anyone at Pownce) and I don't know the future plans of Six Apart / Pownce, I just wanted to point out that shutting down a service can be rarely called a success - for that service at least.

@Shira. Today's email from the Pownce team says that they will shut down the service on the 15th Dec.
That's not exactly what I'd call a *success* strictly speaking.

Basically this article says that, despite being better and apparently "wanted", Pownce failed. However, I can't find any food for thought about what would have happened. It's just a matter of a fact, perhaps a deeper analysis would be beneficial for the readers.

The only thing that matters is why you failed, what role did you play and - crucially - what did you learn from failing. It's hard (if not impossible) to know it for an external observer, but if you're the one who failed you should intimately analyze and understand why it happened. You'll be stronger after that. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, no?
However, I'm a believer of Marc Andreessen's theories about luck and success... you can get deceived quite easily from success but you hardly can from a failure. On this, have a look at this book: http://tinyurl.com/65llcq

Spunds like a very nice book, will definitely give it a go!
I've put it into my Veedow wish list, http://www.veedow.com/user/Fabio/wishlist
Maybe someone will give it to me for Christmas! :)

Slide 43: "If you're a startup that is not cash-flow positive you are in a tough spot right now. If you haven't figured out your biz model yet you are in trouble."

Healthy companies and economies works exactly like that but for internet companies this situation (being cash positive / having a credible and defined biz model) is fairly rare. What does it mean exactly? The internet is not a *serious* business ad the haters would say or that the internet economy is the biggest paradigm shift since modern industry?

Lastly, I see a great opportunity for all the meaningful project coming out in these past/future months... if they'll have the ability to bootstrap/raise little money and build great apps, chances are that when the market will be bullish again they will be first in line to a good exit.

I think this move makes so much sense because the site has the potential to be really mainstream (err... maybe not 100 million users, but why not 50?) and the plug in was a big pain in the neck for the average user.

Well done!

Best wishes to the friends at Bloombla! The guys have talent...
Shame I haven't had enough time to test it carefully myself... my bad!

$28.7M... wow! I thought the Microsoft ads deal last year would have made the need of external cash a lot smaller than this!
Anyway, good for them in this times of turmoil... I just hope that their exit price hasn't just gone to the roof.

@Danvers, thanks mate! I spoke with the reporter for 5 minutes and she scribbled everything I said... and then I see only that quote!! At least it made me laugh!

Fred, you're quite a good looking boy though... ;)

Nice to see that other social shopping site are emerging in UK.
As I'm working in the same space I gave Tribesmart a go immediately and it looks good.
The only thing I didn't like much are the three-fold browsing menu (topic tabs / sub-topic tabs / page tabs)... it feels a bit daunting and not very easy for navigation. Also, I'm not crazy for different colours depending on the topic, I'd probably keep the same colours around the whole site.
About the functionalities, it seems to work well and the more users will join the better for everyone.
On a technical side I noticed a fairly advanced page scraper when you submit a new product. Scraping pages is a pain in the neck and it looks like the guys made a good job!

Keep up with the good work, best of luck!

Fabio

Well done Hermione! Err... Danvers! :)

Great to see Highland Capital Partners among the represented VCs as they funded a similar business in the East coast...

@simplekid Congrats for having the site live. My curiosity, what differentiates you from Kaboodle, Wishpot and the likes? Only the geographical target?

Cheers

@Greg Squires: I really liked the article you suggested! Nice job, thanks

Fair enough Nic.

By definition a problem with many possible solutions (unproven if it wasn't enough) is a minefield and uncertainty reigns (otherwise why being 'scared' to invest?).
Therefore it turns to be a sales pitch more than everything else... Clearly I'm a bit exaggerating, however it's nice to know your point of view so that we will be able to tailor our pitch considering this added complexity as well.

Fabio

Always nice to hear encouraging words when you're on the entrepreneurial side. However I recently had a chat with a London VC whose point of view I much respect and he basically said one 'scary' thing. Discussing about the market need my start up is addressing his point of view was that the market is definitely hot but it's not yet clear which solution of the problem will prove to be right, therefore getting VC funding won't be easy because everybody is waiting for somebody else to take the first move (note, we're talking around £1M mark, not tens of millions).
Well, to me this doesn't sound very much like a daring behaviour. I know this should be put more into context but I'd very appreciate your honest reality check about all these nice words being said lately in the UK VC scene.

Best,
Fabio

Nice and useful post.
I agree with Stanley, go get Kawasaki's "Art of the Start" and read carefully what he says.
My humble experience of 2 presentations in 2 days (not as big as DEMO though) says that I was among the few who dealt with the allocated 7 and 5 minutes respectively saying exactly what I wanted to say.