创新社交图片营销公司摘得科技头脑风暴大会“创业偶像”桂冠
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本周三，五个创新型初创公司出席了在科罗拉多州阿斯彭举办的《财富》科技头脑风暴大会，争夺“创业偶像”的头衔。但只有一家企业将载誉而归。争夺的锦标？当然是《财富》的黄金认证。 卖点：这家位于加州核桃溪市的在线慈善网站的主营业务在于募集小型捐款，汇集这些捐款，然后捐给某项慈善事业。会员们在网上报名，从成百上千个非盈利慈善机构中选出他们愿意捐款的机构，例如美国育犬协会健康基金会（American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation）。会员同时还可以决定每个月的捐款金额，1美元起捐。网站的首席执行官苏珊•库尼说：“很多人愿意捐款的首要原因在于，他们认为自己微薄的捐赠能够产生影响。” 人们的捐款会进入一个捐赠圈，这个圈子也可以叫做“邻里社区”，它是会员们加入的一个捐款池。他们和邻里社区里的其他会员每个月可以举行一次投票，选出一个他们希望动用捐款池资金资助的慈善项目：得票最多的项目获胜，获得当月邻里社区里所有的捐款。 评委点评：“我喜欢这种众包模式，但我不清楚它的运作模式和盈利模式。我的问题嘛？你们把这个点子卖给谁？怎样卖？”时代公司（Time Inc）的主席兼导演大卫•贝尔提出疑问。 卖点：如果桌子能自动为调节高度，为什么还要手动调节？于是诞生了Stir第一批产品“动力桌子”（售价3890美元）背后的设计理念，它就是Stir首席执行官 JP•拉布罗斯去年发布的一款内嵌触摸屏和热传感器的站立式桌子。这款产品运用的科技能够追踪人什么时候在桌子旁边，能学会人们倾向于站立多久，然后自动调节桌子的高度。拉布罗斯指出，“动力桌子”的健康功效也不容忽视：站立四个小时燃烧的卡路里相当于跑步两英里燃烧的卡路里。 评委点评：阿特拉斯风险投资公司（Atlas Venture）合伙人杰夫•法干问道：“你们打算直接通过电子商务和零售商卖出多少张桌子？” 卖点：2010年，公司首席执行官赖安•哈伍德辞掉一家纽约投资银行的工作，迅速创办了PureWow，一家针对女性的电邮简报和生活方式网站。这个网站得到了鲍勃•皮特曼的百乐集团公司（Pilot Group）和莱勒风险投资公司（Lerer Ventures）的一部分支持。这个网站的内容从“如何……”的美容秘诀（如“如何用贝玲妃的新款眼线膏打造迷人猫眼”）到美味食谱，应有尽有。网站的目标是：“用独特的声音”帮助读者“找到人无我有的特别想法”。据哈伍德表示，如今，PureWow的网站的读者已达400多万，同时还有将近250万人订阅了电邮简报。 评委点评：“恭喜你们利用HTML5版本就做出了这样的成绩，”法干说。“我的问题在于度量指标上……我更想知道你们的用户们都在干什么。因为事实是：这是个拼规模的游戏。” |
Five innovative startups showed up at Fortune’sBrainstorm Tech in Aspen, Colo. on Wednesday, all vying for the title of Startup Idol. But only one could walk away victorious. At stake? Fortune’s golden stamp of approval, of course. The pitch: The Walnut Creek, Calif.-based online charity site is all about raising small donations, pooling them together, and donating them to a cause. Members sign up online and select one of hundreds of non-profit charities they would like to donate to, like, say, the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation, and how much they’d like to donate each month, starting at $1. “The number one reason most people don’t give is because they think their small donation will make a difference,” said CEO Susan Cooney. The money goes into a giving circle, or “neighborhood,” money pool the member joins. They and other members of the neighborhood can cast a vote once a month for the cause they’d like the pool money to go toward: Whichever cause snags the most votes wins and receives all the neighborhood money that month. Judge’s critique: “I love crowdsourcing, but I’m unclear how it works and how it pays. My question? To whom do you sell this and how do you sell it?” wondered David Bell, Chairman, gyro, and Director, Time Inc. The pitch: Why adjust that standing desk manually when the desk can do it for you? So goes the design philosophy behind Stir first product, the Kinetic Desk ($3,890), a standing desk Stir CEO JP Labrosse launched last year with a built-in touchscreen and heat sensor. All that tech tracks when someone is at their desk, learns things like how long they prefer to stand, and automatically adjusts the desk’s height. Labrosse points out the Kinectic Desk’s health benefits shouldn’t be ignored: Four hours of standing is equivalent to the calories burned from a 2-mile run. Judge’s critique: “How many desks do you plan to sell directly via e-commerce and via retailers?” asked Jeff Fagnan, an Atlas Venture partner. The pitch: In 2010, CEO Ryan Harwood left his job at a New York City investment bank to jumpstart PureWow, an email newsletter and lifestyle web site for women partly backed by Bob Pittman’s Pilot Group and Lerer Ventures. The content typically ranges from “how to” beauty tips (“Master the cat eye with Benefit’s new eyeliner”) to food recipes. The goal: to help readers “find special ideas they can’t find anywhere else in a unique the of voice.” Now, PureWow’s site has over 4 million readers, while nearly 2.5 million subscribe to the newsletter, according to Harwood. Judge’s critique: “Congrats on doing this all on HTML 5,” said Fagnan. “My question is all about the metrics. … I want to know more about what your users are doing. Because it is true: it is a scale game. ” |
