Comments on: Tuesday 05/22/07 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/ Medium for entrepreneurial-related conversations Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:51:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Friday 05/25/07 at thinkbeta.com http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-274 Friday 05/25/07 at thinkbeta.com Fri, 25 May 2007 08:56:41 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-274 [...] Donna May 24th, 2007 at 12:32 pm [...] [...] Donna May 24th, 2007 at 12:32 pm [...]

]]> By: Donna http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-268 Donna Thu, 24 May 2007 16:32:51 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-268 Wow! thanks for all the feedback. Couple of comments: consulting revenue - as a start up, always keep your eyes open for revenue options. but it surprised us too. generating revenue - our goto market strategy is to use viddler.com to prove the technology & build brand recognition. Once we have that ( and a large consumer base) we can start generating revenue. Without that statistically sound large consumer base, we wouldn't be able to generate revenue. Ad revenue is scheduled first - stay tuned to see how it works - ads will be on timeline, like tags. Next is premium subscription. we estimate about 10% of our members will pay for higher quality, more storage & advance features. then its on to B2B services - larger customers where we're providing "solutions" Our challenge has always been sticking to our guns on this rollout schedule. But we believe each phase builds upon the previous to give us a higher probability of success. The challenge ( and skepticism from investors) is the ability to have both a B2C & B2B business. Time will tell :-) thanks again for using viddler. you're always welcome to leave me a message or question at viddler, or via email at donna (at) viddler(dot)com Wow! thanks for all the feedback. Couple of comments:

consulting revenue - as a start up, always keep your eyes open for revenue options. but it surprised us too.

generating revenue - our goto market strategy is to use viddler.com to prove the technology & build brand recognition. Once we have that ( and a large consumer base) we can start generating revenue. Without that statistically sound large consumer base, we wouldn’t be able to generate revenue.
Ad revenue is scheduled first - stay tuned to see how it works - ads will be on timeline, like tags.
Next is premium subscription. we estimate about 10% of our members will pay for higher quality, more storage & advance features.
then its on to B2B services - larger customers where we’re providing “solutions”

Our challenge has always been sticking to our guns on this rollout schedule. But we believe each phase builds upon the previous to give us a higher probability of success. The challenge ( and skepticism from investors) is the ability to have both a B2C & B2B business. Time will tell :-)
thanks again for using viddler. you’re always welcome to leave me a message or question at viddler, or via email at donna (at) viddler(dot)com

]]> By: Jeremy Koehler http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-252 Jeremy Koehler Wed, 23 May 2007 17:57:23 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-252 Hey Hank! This is Jeremy from last semester. I'm following this blog and really liked the "interview." I thought it was cool how things can come together if you are willing to put the work in. I right now would have no idea how to start putting an idea like Viddler together, but with the right people working together and putting in the effort (multiple interviews for contracts, consulting to pay the bills, etc.) it is pretty cool to see what can happen. This give us entrepreneurial students a little more hope in dreaming big. Thanks! Hey Hank! This is Jeremy from last semester. I’m following this blog and really liked the “interview.” I thought it was cool how things can come together if you are willing to put the work in. I right now would have no idea how to start putting an idea like Viddler together, but with the right people working together and putting in the effort (multiple interviews for contracts, consulting to pay the bills, etc.) it is pretty cool to see what can happen. This give us entrepreneurial students a little more hope in dreaming big. Thanks!

]]> By: Ben Mikkelson http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-249 Ben Mikkelson Wed, 23 May 2007 12:22:14 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-249 I was surprised to hear that the Viddler team is making money through consulting. I was more surprised, however, to hear that their plans for a self-sustaining Viddler.com included in-line advertising. Since their website is lacks much in the way of text to support the ads, I don't really understand how they plan on doing this. I was expecting to hear Donna mention something about advertising banners targeted toward the site's demographic. I was surprised to hear that the Viddler team is making money through consulting. I was more surprised, however, to hear that their plans for a self-sustaining Viddler.com included in-line advertising. Since their website is lacks much in the way of text to support the ads, I don’t really understand how they plan on doing this. I was expecting to hear Donna mention something about advertising banners targeted toward the site’s demographic.

]]> By: Rebecca http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-247 Rebecca Wed, 23 May 2007 12:06:58 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-247 I really liked the way that Donna talked about keeping in touch with all of her competitors (now including vodpod, I'm sure) through Google Alerts. It's an interesting and important form of market research and perfect for tech companies! I really liked the way that Donna talked about keeping in touch with all of her competitors (now including vodpod, I’m sure) through Google Alerts. It’s an interesting and important form of market research and perfect for tech companies!

]]> By: mjharris http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-245 mjharris Wed, 23 May 2007 11:49:41 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-245 I found it very interesting, the amount of work they put into the site and then did not see any money come out of the project directly. The idea that building and maintaing a monstrous website would lead to profits from consulting work was kind of funny. Also using this was the first time ive used skype to have a tele-conference with someone hundreds of miles away, I thought that was very cool. I found it very interesting, the amount of work they put into the site and then did not see any money come out of the project directly. The idea that building and maintaing a monstrous website would lead to profits from consulting work was kind of funny. Also using this was the first time ive used skype to have a tele-conference with someone hundreds of miles away, I thought that was very cool.

]]> By: James Haarbauer http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-242 James Haarbauer Wed, 23 May 2007 11:30:08 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-242 I'd also have to say that the most interesting thing I got out of the call was that one's eyes should be kept open for oppertunities at all times. They are running an effective video site, and it generates no revenue. Not exactly what most of us thought was happening. But success comes in many forms, and having the knowledge to do such things is a very valuable asset. I’d also have to say that the most interesting thing I got out of the call was that one’s eyes should be kept open for oppertunities at all times. They are running an effective video site, and it generates no revenue. Not exactly what most of us thought was happening. But success comes in many forms, and having the knowledge to do such things is a very valuable asset.

]]> By: Aaron Dinkledine http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-241 Aaron Dinkledine Wed, 23 May 2007 04:41:47 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-241 I learned that an entrepreneur doesn't have to do something entirely new. An entrepreneur just has to do it better. When Viddler was founded, YouTube already existed. Digital video had already been around for years. But Viddler was able to provide a better product. A better product requires a new outlook on the problem, but not necessarily a new problem. Viddler made streaming video over the web powerful (with deep tagging) and simple. I learned that an entrepreneur doesn’t have to do something entirely new. An entrepreneur just has to do it better. When Viddler was founded, YouTube already existed. Digital video had already been around for years. But Viddler was able to provide a better product. A better product requires a new outlook on the problem, but not necessarily a new problem. Viddler made streaming video over the web powerful (with deep tagging) and simple.

]]> By: Lars Moen http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-240 Lars Moen Wed, 23 May 2007 03:58:42 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-240 I found it interesting that their website didn’t rely on sources of income to initially start their company. They are just now planning on integrating advertising into their website to help make their website more profitable, I would normally think that this would be something a company would want to do right away, but they are obviously doing just fine. I found it interesting that their website didn’t rely on sources of income to initially start their company. They are just now planning on integrating advertising into their website to help make their website more profitable, I would normally think that this would be something a company would want to do right away, but they are obviously doing just fine.

]]> By: Justin Trott http://thinkbeta.com/blog/2007/05/22/tuesday-052207/comment-page-1/#comment-239 Justin Trott Wed, 23 May 2007 03:50:12 +0000 http://thinkbeta.com/blog/?p=58#comment-239 the most important thing to be taken from talking with Donna was that it doesn't take a huge amount of capital to do something big, or compete with an established competitor. Their startup was built from the ground up with money made from winning entrepreneur competitions, and it wasn't a particularly large investment. Yet, despite being so much smaller than Youtube, they provide an arguably better service, based on upload limitations. Donna showed that success can be attained by the small guy, and that we as students are only a good idea away. the most important thing to be taken from talking with Donna was that it doesn’t take a huge amount of capital to do something big, or compete with an established competitor. Their startup was built from the ground up with money made from winning entrepreneur competitions, and it wasn’t a particularly large investment. Yet, despite being so much smaller than Youtube, they provide an arguably better service, based on upload limitations. Donna showed that success can be attained by the small guy, and that we as students are only a good idea away.

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