Archive of TheNextWeb.org
Written on September 10, 2008 – 5:02 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Every once in a while we publish an interview with a start-up. We ask five questions, hoping the answers will give you inspiration and new views.
This time we’re interviewing Asmo Halinen from Playray, a social minigames community from Helsinki, Finland. People from sixteen different countries can log in to the site and enjoy games in their own language, while staying in touch with their gaming buddy’s. 
The service raised €1.75 million from Estonia-based venture capital fund Martinson Trigon Venture Partners about a year ago. That’s not the last part of company history that you’ll readm, as Asmo told us quite a lot about how Playray started.
How did you come up with the idea of Playray?
“Actually we started as a B2B service company, producing sites, web commercials and other stuff like that. But since all the three founders (Pasi Laaksonen, Janne Matilainen and me) had some background on online gaming, we started building our own online casual gaming service during 2002. At the beginning it was only a hobby, but as that side in our company grew, we later (in 2004) split the original company in two: I recruited a new CEO for the B2B side and all we three founders continued in the “new” gaming company.
Since that we’ve focused 100% on the development and internationalization of our Playray service. During the early days it was only about browser based online games; nowadays it’s much more about the active player community around the casual gaming experience.” (more…)
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Written on July 18, 2008 – 2:13 am
Robin Wauters, Next web enthusiast & Plugg organizer
E-MERGE, a Belgian venture capital firm, made waves a couple of years ago investing in a couple of early-stage companies that took off significantly after receiving initial funding (Ogone, BlueBackup, DVDPost, etc.). I almost forgot about their existence, until a short news snippet on Express.be taught me that the company took an undisclosed minority stake in Akamusic, formerly known as Yakamusic.
In essence, Akamusic is an online music community network where artists can hook up with producers to show off their production skills in hopes of getting the often much needed investment to get the ball rolling in the direction of fame and fortune.
Akamusic, unfortunately, doesn’t bring a lot of new stuff to the table and I have no idea why the service is only available in French so far. The basic premise sounds familiar in a space that is quickly getting crowded with startups: artists can register and upload demos, videos and pictures in order to show off their wares. Registered producers in turn can invest small amounts of cash in artists in which they spot potential.
If and when the artist in question raises a certain amount (50 000 € for an album, 15 000 € for a single), Akamusic handles the professional production of the music, and takes 20 % on sales profits going forward. The artist and the investor-producer both get 40 % of the profits of all sales (including through third-party platforms e.g. iTunes). There’s also a bit of a community behind Akamusic, with a social networking platform carrying contextual advertising units.
There’s quite some competitors in this space doing similar things at the very least: companies like SellABand, Amie Street, Snocap (Imeem), Calabash Music, Strayform, Music Arsenal and Indaba Music spring to mind.
Written on May 5, 2008 – 2:13 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
“Keep fees at eBay“, with that catchphrase Wigix challenges eBay for an open fight. This new socially-driven marketplace wants to compete with the online trade giant by offering transparency and a Web 2.0 flavor. They managed to stir up the blogosphere last week with their bold statements, so let’s take a closer look on what this service offers. The transparency comes down to this:
Stop guessing your fees. Wigix doesn’t aim to gouge its members.
For items sold between $25 and $100, we ask for a buck and a half from both the seller and the buyer.
We ask for an additional 2% of the portion above $100 from the seller if the price goes over $100.
If the price goes over $1000, we ask for an additional 1% of that portion.
For items below $25, we charge nothing!
Stop letting other marketplaces chip away at your profits with multiple fees. Wigix asks for no listing fees, and has no hidden fees.
And for the Web 2.0 flavor, or maybe Web 3.0 - you name it, Wigix is giving users the opportunity to become a category expert. He or she has the responsibility to review, reject, approve submissions made to their category and update blogs and discussion boards several times a week. It pays one percent of the category’s revenue. After a while this can become an interesting source of income.
There’s a second way of contributing to the community for a financial reward: homesteading. Just like the US government gave away land to pioneers in the Wild Wild West, Wigix gives users money for adding items to the catalog. So imagine there are no Burberry umbrellas on Wigix yet. You can then add this item and earn 5 percent of all the fancy umbrellas that will be sold in the future. Nice, uh?
It’s obvious that Wigix wants to create a community of people who all feel their part of a revolution. That’s why they draw a line with the Wild west and speak of “like-minded collectors and traders”. Smart strategy, if you ask me. They might even approach active eBay users and lure them into the Wigix camp by addressing their conscious: “Wouldn’t you want to be part of this honest way of trading?”. Let’s see if Wigix can pull it of.
Written on March 20, 2008 – 12:45 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Every week we publish an interview with a start-up. We ask five questions, hoping the answers will give you inspiration and new views. Well, actually six questions, since we also ask the start-up to who he or she is passing the mic to.
This time we’re interviewing Rutger Docter from CreativeCrowds. That’s a Dutch startup that is fully committed to crowdsourcing. Their mission is to help companies and institutions engage the power of crowdsourcing. So they help companies embracing the social influence of their customer communities. Last week they received funding from the Dutch Creative Industry Fund, enough to keep the start-up going for another year.
How did you come up with the idea of CreativeCrowds?
“During our study at the Free University of Amsterdam co-founder Carl and I had some good discussions about the effect of the social web on companies. On the other hand we were extreme web enthusiasts with a lot of good ideas. During a Google chat (read our (Dutch) blog post about this chat) we discussed some initiatives of idea competitions. Then we had a little ‘eureka moment’: we should connect companies and crowds with good ideas! On a web platform! That will be great! Later on we got inspired by Cambrian House and Jeff Howe, who came with the term crowdsourcing. And that is what we are: a crowdsourcing startup.” (more…)
Written on March 3, 2008 – 11:05 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Every week we publish an interview with a start-up. We ask five questions, hoping the answers will give you inspiration and new views. Well, actually six questions, since we also ask the start-up to who he or she is passing the mic to.
This week we’re interviewing Danny Bull, founder of My Neighbourhoods. A service that helps you to get to know your neighbours and find out more about your local area. My Neighbourhoods wants you to improve your local community by joining theirs. You can read local news, chat with neighbours and read reviews of restaurants and other facilitations in your area. They’ve already got some coverage in The Times and TechCrunch UK.
I like the idea of bringing people together offline by using an online service. Moreover, entrepreneurs who want to improve other’s people lives will always find a stage on The Next Web.
How did you come up with the idea of My Neigbourhoods?
“Myself and my girlfriend bought a flat for the first time in London almost 5 years ago. We didn’t know anyone in the area at the time and needed to get some renovation work done on the property. We spent 12 unsuccessful months looking for a builder and I started to think there must be a better way. That’s when I had the idea to create My Neighbourhoods as a place to use the collective knowledge of a local area and get to meet new people in the process. Now whenever I need something I ask my neighbours if they have any ideas first. It also turns out there are some very nice people where I live.” (more…)
Written on March 2, 2008 – 3:36 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Last week we gave away 250 private beta invites for Blippr, a service that allows you to collect, organize and share your books, games, music, movies and tv shows. It’s definitely a nice service for people with a broad range of interests. Yet not everybody is interested in books AND music AND movies. For those people, there are specialized services, and an example is social network for gamers Vigster.com.
The London-based start-up showed a demo during Minibar, chaired by Mike Butcher form TechCrunch UK - and launched this week in public beta. Users can build and catalogue their games, create virtual game shelves to show off their games collection and do the regular social network thing: connecting, sharing and having heated discussions about game characters, scenarios and whatnot.
The interface is rather sober - not what you would expect from a gaming service - and focused too much on selling games. For instance, if you go to the screenshots gallery and click on one you like, you end up on a page that puts the ‘buy this game’-line right in your face. You have to scroll down to find a thumbnail version of the screenshot, that opens on a new blank page. There are officiously some missed opportunities there.
I think the way to build a strong community is to get users to love your service. Offer them the same features Vigster has now, but present them in a good-looking, game-like and usable interface. Show users that you love them as well by welcoming them in a warm way - learn from Flickr - and leave the Google Ads for later.
But most of all, let them know you love games too. I’m sure the guys from Vigster have a passion for games, but I can’t tell by looking at their service.
Written on February 12, 2008 – 4:30 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Elaine: So, basically what you’re saying is 95% of the population is undatable?
Jerry: UNDATABLE.
Elaine: So how are all these people gettin’ together?
Jerry: Alcohol. (Seinfeld)
Wine drinkers are a popular niche on the web. There are hundreds, probably even thousands, of services and sites dedicated to the high-scale drink. I’ve tried to select the best Web 2.0 wine services for you. You probably already know the bible for high-brow wine lovers: Wine Spectator. If you happen to be one of those elite lovers, head over there, otherwise these services might get you started.
Be sure to check out the video below about 30-year old wine merchant Gary Vaynerchuk from New Jersey. He tells an inspiring story about how he started his daily web video show Wine Library TV.
Winelog
International wine community with a database that contains over 10,000 wines from over 4,000 wineries, 1,100 regions. Users can comment and rate wines they have tried so that the service can provide personal recommendations. Winelog also has a team of editors that writes about wine books, cafes and wineries.
www.winelog.net
Snooth
When the guys from Snooth launched their service in June 2007, they just made up a random weird name so that we would remember it better. If that’s not enough, there are always millions of reviews and hundreds of thousands of wines that make the service memorable. Suitable for aspiring and casual wine drinkers, Snooth offers personal recommendations.
www.snooth.com
Vinoo
Vinoo is a Dutch wine community. Users can create their own profiles, on which they can rate and discusses wines. These wines all have their own profile as well, making it possible for you to find that wine that goes perfectly with your pasta tonight. The service is still in beta and expanding rapidly. Hopefully it will soon be available in English as well.
www.vinoo.nl
Vinorati
This well-designed service has the same functions as the other blogs, yet one stands out of the wine crowd. It allows you to create tasting groups. ‘Groups may be made up of members who actually taste wines together, or who want to share wines with each other, or simply members who share an interest in a region, winemaker, or wine style.’ Looking for a way to gather your drinking buddies? Vinorati is the one you should click on.
www.vinorati.com
Cork’d
Yet another wine community, with the basically the same options as the others. I recommend you just browse around all four recommendations (five if you speak Dutch) and select the one with the tone of voice and lay-out you like the most. Cork’d seems more suitable for the more experienced drinkers.
www.corkd.com
Wine Library TV
30-year old wine merchant Gary Vaynerchuk from New Jersey started a video show in which he tasted and reviewed the wines he sold in his store. It’s now a hugely popular show that has an enormous number of followers. Check out this interview he had with Beet.tv, and pay extra attention to his view on combining advertising and reviewing.
tv.winelibrary.com
[WebTipr: Yaniv Solnik, Israel]
Written on February 2, 2008 – 7:53 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Issuu offers people the possibility to publish their own illustrated magazine. It’s just a matter of spending some time on a pdf file - so start working on your Indesign skills - and uploading it to their beta site. Issuu then publishes your magazine with a slick tool and makes it findable by archiving it in categories like fashion, architecture, arts and.. sex. Yeah sorry, I couldn’t help noticing that the founders aren’t afraid of really explicit sex magazines.
Users can then tell their friends about the magazine they’ve created and embed it on their blog or social network profile. Not that they necessarily need to, since the founders of Issuu also want their service to be a ‘creative community’.
Sounds all pretty publishing 2.0-like, but is it really?
- Yes, it is, because: Everybody can upload pdf-files and gets a really fancy tool to show it. I must admit, the interface looks awesome.
- No, it isn’t, because: Web 2.0 is also about finding stuff, just ask David Weinberger. And an online pdf file sounds a bit 1.0 to me. You can’t link to a particular article and people can’t tag a page on del.icio.us or Fleck, or comment wherever they want. And don’t even think of embedding a YouTube video. It reminds me of the newspapers in the early years of the Internet who just published their articles on-line and that was it.
Yet Issuu is a good stepping stone for everybody who wants to get used to on-line publishing. Think of the people who hardly know what a blog is. They might like the idea, since it reminds them of a ‘real’ magazine. After this getting-used-to-process, they can switch to Wordpress with a magazine-style theme. So they can experience the REAL benefits of publishing 2.0 style.
So imagine that this large group of people who wants to get used to the web starts using Issuu. Then the service might get really popular. However, I don’t think that it will ever become a successful community. Because, in the end, the sex magazines will flourish and frighten other visitors - that, for example, publish magazines about wine from Tuscany.
Not that the founders probably mind, since sex has never been bad for advertising revenues. Yet if they really want a lively community, a ’safe mode’ is a must. A 50-year old lady who uploaded a magazine about interior design, doesn’t want her tennis friends to stumble upon a porn magazine.
Written on February 1, 2008 – 8:55 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Internet is often called the most democratic medium. Al Gore stated in his book The Assault on Reason more or less that it is our only hope for democracy. I’m not sure whether he’s overreacting or not, but I do know that the Internet has the potential to mobilize like-minded people to support a certain cause. Just look at the attacks on the Church of Scientology last week. A small group of activists managed to get a large cult into trouble. But can we also use the Internet to get some people together and start helping those who are starving and fighting for their lives, as we speak? The people from Goodcircle.org certainly think so.
This service offers people the possible to connect in a ‘circle’ and fight for a common cause by using ‘the power of commerce’. This may sound rather abstract, yet it’s easy to explain. People in circles can sell goods on eBay or start their own store, the benefits go to the causes in which they believe. Goodcircle helps them to get attention, by showing random circles in the sidebar. It not only looks pretty, but it also makes the service interesting to visit.
The site is still in beta, but already some circles have earned money. ‘Ride for the Son‘ for example, a circle created by the Christian Motorcylists Association, has already collected 200 dollars for causes like ‘focus on the family’ and ‘promise keepers’. The ‘Support Hungry Families‘ circle managed to collect 10 dollars, but hey, it’s a start.
The team behind Goodcircle is based in New York City. It was pretty hard to find info about them on the site, so I’ve emailed them. Turns out that Goodcircle was created by Charlie Carlson and friends, who ‘wanted to take all they had learned about technology, commerce and philanthropy, and create a new kind of community, and a new kind of marketplace, that brings together and empowers individuals, groups and organizations, for the mutual benefit of all of us’.
Carlson: “To us, there’s this wonderful, new, revolutionary spirit out there. People aren’t just speaking out, they want to take control and support what they believe in their own way, everyday, in their own voice. That’s Goodcircle.” Let’s hope that the spirit Carlson describes will actually pay off and became a major force in the charity field.
Written on December 20, 2007 – 4:24 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
As you might have read on Techcrunch UK this week, Amazon is partnering with music community start-up Sellaband. SellABand Creative Director Pim Betist gave the Next Web an inside view of this special deal.
For those of you who haven’t heard about SellABand yet, here’s a short description: any beginning band can upload their music to the website. People who like their tunes and foresee a successful future for them, can become a ‘believer’ by investing 10 dollars. As soon as the band counts 5000 believers - and thus gained 50.000 dollars - SellABand steps up and helps the talented folks to record an album with a studio and expert producer.
Since the launch in August 2006, 6.000 bands uploaded their musical creations to SellABand. Eleven of them reached the magical number of 5000 believers and recorded an album. Quite a successful concept so far, and it’s about to become even more successful now they teamed up with Amazon.
After the first meeting it soon became clear that SellABand and Amazon would be a perfect match
The media giant turns out to be a ‘believer’ of SellABand. Betist told The Next Web how it got to this point: “Proper, the largest independent distributor of the UK, approached us for a possible partnership. We came to an agreement about off-line distribution. Amazon.co.uk is one of their clients and they thought it would be a good idea to introduce SellABand to them. After the first meeting in the Amazon head office in Slough it soon became clear that SellABand and Amazon would be a perfect match.”
Jeff Belle, Amazon.co.uk’s head of entertainment, about the deal: “Amazon.co.uk is enthusiastic about new music and helping our customers find it, which is why a partnership with SellaBand makes perfect sense for us”.
But what is the real profit factor for Amazon?
Impressive results compared with the innovative character of our business model, stimulated Amazon to partner up with us.
Betist: “The music taste of most consumers is becoming more diverse. People are looking for new music, and that’s exactly what we offer. Amazon saw that we helped eleven artists to collect 50.000 dollars in just one year. At the same time they realized that it’s just the beginning. Those impressive results compared with the innovative character of our business model, stimulated Amazon to partner up with us.”
“Amazon will have a big influence on SellABand”, says Betist. “Part of the deal is that Amazon will help artists who reach 35.000 dollars to collect the other 15.000 by sending out a targeted mailing. Imagine you’re an artist whose music sounds like Robbie Williams’ music and just gained the 35.000 dollars on SellABand. Amazon will then email all its customers who once bought a Robbie Williams album that they have the opportunity to invest in you.”
That’s investing made easy and it will probably boost the number of believers. There are even more advantages for SellABand. Betist: “Amazon will also set up an exclusive SellABand store. Moreover, the Amazone Vine members (the top 50 of Amazon reviewers) will receive a copy of every SellABand album so that they can give their opinion. If the reviewers like the album, it rapidly appears in the charts on Amazon. That will increase profits for the artists as well as the believers. We’re really proud that Amazon makes this possible.”
Just like Betist did during the last Hyves party, as depicted on the photo, I think he’ll have a great time celebrating this.
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The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show of, the future of the Web. (
