Friday, June 15, 2007
A great end to a great week!
As if Wed wasn't good enough, bodbook has seen a great end to this week. We were invited for our first meeting with a venture capital firm. I know better than to expect this to be the final meeting we have with investors, but it solidifies that we have a winning concept that is interesting to all levels of investors.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Yesterday was another fantastically interesting day in bodland. I had several significant meetings. The first one of the day was with an industry leader in point of sale systems. In case you aren't familiar with the term, POS are the software programs that theatres, fast food, gas stations, etc use to enter the purchases you make. My intention when requesting a meeting with this person was to get his advice on how to integrate bodbook into the systems of each theatre. At best I was hoping that he would be interested in sitting on our board. Instead he proposed that we form a business partnership that plugged into his other businesses including theatre POS systems, online movie ticketing, and a cashless payment system. I have to say that his proposal was entirely unexpected and gratifying. I don't know where it will go, but quite cool nevertheless.
The next meeting of the day was with another startup called Campus-411. The do alerts from school administrators, security, profs, clubs, etc via cell phone text messaging. One cool thing that they offer is digital coupons. For example, the discount coupons that our users download for movies can also be sent digitally via cell phone. They only need to be scanned at the theatre to be redeemed. I really like their technology and get a good sense from them. Hopefully all that will work out.
The next meeting was with the experienced business person I wrote about 4 months ago. He has been an advisor with us since I met him, but now it looks like he might be available to join our team in a more significant way. It is still necessary for us to raise capital to afford him, but given the really strong reception we have been getting from investors I think his presence on the team will essentially guarantee whatever money we need at a price that we can live with.
Finally, I met with our team to talk about the little adjustments we had to make in the design and functionality. The main parts of the site are done, but there are a million little things that will enhance the users experience so we keep plugging away on those. I am really excited to see how cool this all turns out when we launch in Sept.
That's just another day in bodland. I think we have alot more interesting ones ahead.
The next meeting of the day was with another startup called Campus-411. The do alerts from school administrators, security, profs, clubs, etc via cell phone text messaging. One cool thing that they offer is digital coupons. For example, the discount coupons that our users download for movies can also be sent digitally via cell phone. They only need to be scanned at the theatre to be redeemed. I really like their technology and get a good sense from them. Hopefully all that will work out.
The next meeting was with the experienced business person I wrote about 4 months ago. He has been an advisor with us since I met him, but now it looks like he might be available to join our team in a more significant way. It is still necessary for us to raise capital to afford him, but given the really strong reception we have been getting from investors I think his presence on the team will essentially guarantee whatever money we need at a price that we can live with.
Finally, I met with our team to talk about the little adjustments we had to make in the design and functionality. The main parts of the site are done, but there are a million little things that will enhance the users experience so we keep plugging away on those. I am really excited to see how cool this all turns out when we launch in Sept.
That's just another day in bodland. I think we have alot more interesting ones ahead.
Friday, June 8, 2007
"Are you worried about Flixter?"
It's been a couple of weeks since Facebook Apps platform has opened. Flixter has jumped out to be a very popular app in a very short period of time (1.5 million users and growing). People have been asking me in a concerned way "Are you worried about Flixter". My answer is "Not at all". Though we share similarities in rating films, we have completely different goals. I even think that Flixter might actually help us. At the very least it shows potential investors how much interest there is on Facebook for movie reviews.
The main distinction between Flixter and Bodbook is that Flixter is a social network for people who love movies. It is a place to share all things movies. Bodbook on the other hand is a event management system that includes movies. We focus on sparking interest in particular movies and managing all the invites that result from our efforts. Users benefit b/c they get reliable reviews and cash discounts to boot.
Not satisfied to sit on our hands until launch, Bodbook is in the process of developing more reliable review systems and event management features that will positively blow away anything out there doing anything similar. I don't think it wise to discuss it publicly in this forum, but suffice it to say, it will maximize the reach of our influencers further than even we imagined originally.
On another note, while we haven't actually inked a deal with any investors yet it seems that this part should come imminently. Just this past week a deep pocketed investor approached a friend of mine that is knowledgeable about the sector. He wanted an opinion on how marketable bodbook is. My friend gave it to him straight that we had something that has disruptive potential. Then just today a friend of mine from the military asked if he could invest in the company based only on the description. What is remarkable about both of these potential investors is that I haven't even pitched them. They have independently come to be interested because there is something even in the description about bodbook that smells like money. Not that investment is any guarantee of success, but so much interest sure is validation that what we have been working on for the past year is coming to fruition.
The main distinction between Flixter and Bodbook is that Flixter is a social network for people who love movies. It is a place to share all things movies. Bodbook on the other hand is a event management system that includes movies. We focus on sparking interest in particular movies and managing all the invites that result from our efforts. Users benefit b/c they get reliable reviews and cash discounts to boot.
Not satisfied to sit on our hands until launch, Bodbook is in the process of developing more reliable review systems and event management features that will positively blow away anything out there doing anything similar. I don't think it wise to discuss it publicly in this forum, but suffice it to say, it will maximize the reach of our influencers further than even we imagined originally.
On another note, while we haven't actually inked a deal with any investors yet it seems that this part should come imminently. Just this past week a deep pocketed investor approached a friend of mine that is knowledgeable about the sector. He wanted an opinion on how marketable bodbook is. My friend gave it to him straight that we had something that has disruptive potential. Then just today a friend of mine from the military asked if he could invest in the company based only on the description. What is remarkable about both of these potential investors is that I haven't even pitched them. They have independently come to be interested because there is something even in the description about bodbook that smells like money. Not that investment is any guarantee of success, but so much interest sure is validation that what we have been working on for the past year is coming to fruition.
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