創新社交圖片營銷公司摘得"創業偶像"桂冠
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.
本週三，五個創新型初創公司出席了在科羅拉多州阿斯彭舉辦的《財富》科技頭腦風暴大會，爭奪“創業偶像”的頭銜。但只有一家企業將載譽而歸。爭奪的錦標？當然是《財富》的黃金認證。Givelocity
Givelocity公司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.
賣點：這家位於加州核桃溪市的在線慈善網站的主營業務在於募集小型捐款，彙集這些捐款，然後捐給某項慈善事業。會員們在網上報名，從成百上千個非盈利慈善機構中選出他們願意捐款的機構，例如美國育犬協會健康基金會（American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation）。會員同時還可以決定每個月的捐款金額，1美元起捐。網站的首席執行官蘇珊o庫尼說：“很多人願意捐款的首要原因在於，他們認爲自己微薄的捐贈能夠產生影響。”
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.
人們的捐款會進入一個捐贈圈，這個圈子也可以叫做“鄰里社區”，它是會員們加入的一個捐款池。他們和鄰里社區裏的其他會員每個月可以舉行一次投票，選出一個他們希望動用捐款池資金資助的慈善項目：得票最多的項目獲勝，獲得當月鄰里社區裏所有的捐款。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.
評委點評：“我喜歡這種衆包模式，但我不清楚它的運作模式和盈利模式。我的問題嘛？你們把這個點子賣給誰？怎樣賣？”時代公司（Time Inc）的主席兼導演大衛o貝爾提出疑問。Stir
Stir公司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.
賣點：如果桌子能自動爲調節高度，爲什麼還要手動調節？於是誕生了Stir第一批產品“動力桌子”（售價3890美元）背後的設計理念，它就是Stir首席執行官 JPo拉布羅斯去年發佈的一款內嵌觸摸屏和熱傳感器的站立式桌子。這款產品運用的科技能夠追蹤人什麼時候在桌子旁邊，能學會人們傾向於站立多久，然後自動調節桌子的高度。拉布羅斯指出，“動力桌子”的健康功效也不容忽視：站立四個小時燃燒的卡路里相當於跑步兩英里燃燒的卡路里。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.
評委點評：阿特拉斯風險投資公司（Atlas Venture）合夥人傑夫o法幹問道：“你們打算直接通過電子商務和零售商賣出多少張桌子？”PureWow
PureWow公司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.
賣點：2010年，公司首席執行官賴安o哈伍德辭掉一家紐約投資銀行的工作，迅速創辦了PureWow，一家針對女性的電郵簡報和生活方式網站。這個網站得到了鮑勃o皮特曼的百樂集團公司（Pilot Group）和萊勒風險投資公司（Lerer Ventures）的一部分支持。這個網站的內容從“如何……”的美容祕訣（如“如何用貝玲妃的新款眼線膏打造迷人貓眼”）到美味食譜，應有盡有。網站的目標是：“用獨特的聲音”幫助讀者“找到人無我有的特別想法”。據哈伍德表示，如今，PureWow的網站的讀者已達400多萬，同時還有將近250萬人訂閱了電郵簡報。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. ”
評委點評：“恭喜你們利用HTML5版本就做出了這樣的成績，”法幹說。“我的問題在於度量指標上……我更想知道你們的用戶們都在幹什麼。因爲事實是：這是個拼規模的遊戲。”Trendalytics
Trendalytics公司The pitch: Karen Moon’s startup dissects over 1 billion different online “signals” — like for instance, what people are saying on Facebook FB -1.08% or Twitter TWTR -1.12% about a certain trend — to help fashion industry professionals keep track of what’s popular with shoppers. The data also proves helpful for merchandisers to figure out which items to stock so they’re less likely to have excess, unsold inventory. Indeed, Moon says over 50% of all merchandise is currently sold at a loss. But with Trendalytics, that percentage could be significantly less.
賣點：凱倫o穆恩的初創公司分析十億多個不同的在線“指標”——例如，人們在Facebook或Twitter上關於某種潮流的評論——藉此幫助時尚界人士追蹤消費者的喜好。這些數據對於商家明確庫存商品種類，減少商品積壓也非常有幫助。穆恩表示，事實上目前超過50%的商品都是虧本出售。但有了Trendalytics，這個比率將會大大減少。Judge’s critique: “How are you going to get merchants to pay for this?” asked Wenda Harris Millard, COO of MediaLink. “They are notoriously cheap, so I’m wondering how you sized this market.”
評委點評：“你們打算怎麼讓商家掏錢用你們的服務？”MediaLink的首席運營官溫達o哈里斯o米勒德說。“他們都是出了名的小氣，所以，我想知道你們怎麼界定這個市場的規模？”Pixlee
Pixlee公司The pitch: Former New Yorker Kyle Wong argues where brand marketing is concerned, user-generated photos and videos are king. “These photos aren’t just 1,000 words, they’re worth 1,000 words of endorsement,” argued Wong. So he developed Pixlee, a service that lets brands track which user-uploaded media are likely to resonate with shoppers and distributes them across the brand’s different platforms, including social media. According to Wong, Pixlee already has partners that include Coca-Cola CCE -0.50% , Jamba Juice, BMW and Nestle.
賣點：曾經的紐約人凱爾o王提出，凡是有品牌營銷的地方，用戶生成的照片和視頻就是王道。“這些照片不只頂1000句話，它們實質上是價值千言的代言，” 凱爾o王表示。因此，他研發了Pixlee，能讓品牌追蹤，用戶上傳到哪些媒體的內容可能會讓消費者產生共鳴，進而擴散到這個品牌不同的平臺上，包括社交平臺。據凱爾o王透露，Pixlee目前已經擁有包括可口可樂（Coca-Cola）、堅寶果汁（Jamba Juice）、寶馬（BMW）和雀巢（Nestle）在內的多家合作伙伴。Judge’s critique: “I’m wondering about your competition,” mused Millard, who said she’s come across at least one other similar business. “My other question: distribution platforms. How do consumers discover it?”
評委點評：“我想知道你的競爭對手都有誰，”米勒德沉思着說，她表示已經見過至少一個類似的商業創意。“我的另一個問題是：分銷平臺的問題。消費者要怎樣才能發現它呢？”The winner:
獲獎者：3rd place: 21% PureWow
季軍：PureWow公司（支持率21%）2nd place: 31% Stir
亞軍：Stir公司（支持率31%）1st place: 34% Pixlee
冠軍：Pixlee公司（支持率 34%）
