MappingTheWeb //

A limited number of first-time entrepreneurs hit it big and sell their company for millions. Some might call this luck. Less frequently is an entrepreneur able to replicate this feat and sell a second company for a considerable amount. Almost never is one able to do this for a third time. At this point, luck cannot be taken into consideration - a formula has been established.

Niklas Zennstrom co-founded both KaZaA and Skype, two wildly popular Internet successes. He’s on his way to a third success - maybe his biggest yet - with Joost.

A great article was published by BBC the other day. It profiled the mindset and thought process of Zennstrom. This Swedish genius is THE disrupter among disruptive technology disrupters. He identifies an industry with problems and short-comings, then launches a company in an all-out attack. In particular, he has a keen interest in the Internet communication and media areas, as all of his disrupters have spawned from these realms. Here is a simple breakdown:

• Music - KaZaA
• Telephone - Skype
• TV - Joost

What’s next? Something in the radio industry - along the lines of Last.fm or Pandora?

On a side note, his luck with five-letter company names is almost uncanny. Superstition? Strategy? Coincidence? Only Zennstrom really knows.

One thing is for sure. Zennstrom likes being in a position of power. He likes disrupting. Some might call him the shit-disturber of the online world. He is quoted as saying:

“For me, a disruptive technology is only worthwhile if it gives people something they didn’t have or couldn’t do before.”

His motivation and determination are inspirational. He conquers one area, then moves on to another - methodically and systematically. His quest to make things “faster, lighter, or cheaper” is a main driver and source of energy. His never-ending search for the next ‘big thing’ has never been centered around a given product or area, but rather a mentality. Simply put, he wants to give regular consumers a better way of doing something they’re already doing. Thus, he is not looking to re-invent the wheel - just expand upon it.

Here is MY list of the hottest web 2.0 start-ups we’ve seen so far in 2007. Keep in mind that this is my opinion only. Factors that were taken into account include user base growth, buzz and hype generated, as well as awareness within the blogosphere and tech community.

Though a start-up may have launched prior to 2007, widespread brand awareness and growth must have come since the start of this year. Having said that, let’s see the list…

10. Clicky - This gem is web analytics 2.0 at its best. Clicky combines a clean interface and a user-friendly experience to revolutionize web analytics. These guys are not re-inventing the wheel, but rather filling a void. Growth of the service has been phenomenal thus far, with many high profile sites implementing the tool.

9. Spock - Dubbed the ‘people search engine’, Spock promises to change the way we search for people in the future. Search result pages are specifically designed to provide personal information and details. Much buzz was generated around this darling when it landed an abnormally large ‘A’ round of financing.

8. Mahalo - “Thank you” in Hawaiian or Jason Calcanis’ human-powered search engine. Mahalo only launched in the past couple weeks, but the human-edited search results are accumulating. Many questions the use of a non-algorithm-based engine. In any case, J-Cal and Sequoia always attract a crowd regardless of the endeavour.

7. Jaxtr - Call me from my social network profile. This is the basis for Jaxtr. The company has combined buzz words, such as VOIP, widget, and social media, with a stellar executive team to form a potentially ground-breaking product. The idea is interesting. We will have to wait and see whether it goes mainstream. 

6. Babelgum - This Joost competitor is very new to the scene. Babelgum’s ranking is based mostly on the hype and buzz to date. Lots of people are talking about the company. But will they be able to compete with Joost?

5. Virb - Hype, hype, hype… I’ve been hearing about this project for quite some time. I’m not sure what’s so ingenious or revolutionary about it. Virb provides a place to put all your stuff (i.e. photos, videos, blogs) in one place. Sounds like a spin on a social network. Maybe I’m missing something. The interface is cool though. In any case, it has grown quickly and I’ve heard nothing but good things.

4. iLike - This social music discovery network has grown in leaps and bounds. A majority of iLike’s success must be attributed to the opening of the Facebook platform. It reminds me of Pandora, but with a social network aspect latched on. The company has experienced explosive growth very recently.

3. MyBlogLog - This little widget helped pave the way for one of the quickest exit strategies I have ever seen. Quickly snapped up by Yahoo, MyBlogLog (or the blog social network, as it has come to be known) continues to grow by way of its viral nature. I think the founders should thank TechCrunch (most notably) for prominently displaying the widget, therefore inducing a viral spread. Everybody copies the trend-setter.

2. Joost - Not much needs to be said about Joost. The KaZaa/Skype boys are back at it, in yet another attempt to disrupt the communication industry with an online medium. The first two wild successes have fueled huge amounts of buzz and press for this third offering, and so far it hasn’t disappointed.

1. Twitter - Twitter is HOT. Hell, Twitter is the definition of hot. Everyone and their dog seems to be “twittering” nowadays. The concept is so simple, but more importantly, the execution was flawless. Now everyone is either trying to integrate or copy the company. Congratulations to those Twits. Because of them, I now know what EVERYBODY is doing right now.

HONORABLE MENTION goes to:

• Powerset - natural-language search engine (yet to launch).
• who.amung.us - real-time site stat reporting.

Older NOTABLE web 2.0 contenders who have made a real run in 2007:

• Facebook - wow…
• Flixster - social recommendation site for movies.
• RockYou / Slide - multimedia widgets are hot.
• Last.fm - social music revolution; acquired.

Remember… the list is only my opinion. I encourage you to add your thoughts and companies below. If you feel my list is completely out of whack, blog your own top 10 list.

This is the story of UTube… not to be confused with YouTube…

The domain UTube.com is the home of the Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment Corporation. Notice the letters in bold. Phonetically speaking, UTube.com sounds eerily similar to YouTube.com, the wildly popular video-sharing site. For this reason, UTube.com has been experiencing unprecedented amounts of traffic.

Here is a company profile pulled from the UTube site:

“Since 1985 Universal Tube & Rollform has been committed to being the number one supplier of used Tube, Pipe and Rollform Machinery in the world. Our presence in this industry has always been strong and honorable, working with companies locally and all over the world.”

Not exactly the typical profile of a wildly successful web 2.0 start-up, but let’s look at the numbers just to put the situation in perspective. The site had an Alexa rank that was off the charts before 2006. Today, UTube is ranked in the 9,000 range! Remarkable. It has peaked higher than 5,000 at one point. Here is a 3-year Alexa chart, showcasing the traffic growth of UTube.com - phenomenal to say the least. According to the company, unique visitors surpasses 120,000 per day.

The high traffic and exposure are obviously not due to the products and offerings of this industrial firm. Growth is placed squarely on the success of YouTube - and the most obvious misspelling that accompanies it. UTube did launch a lawsuit against YouTube, looking for monetary compensation for brand degradation and technology costs. The actual complaint is a hilarious document. I highly suggest you take the time to give it a thorough read.

More recently, UTube has decided to try to profit from the traffic. If you visit UTube.com, the top of the page is riddled with ads for ringtones, dating sites, toolbars, and loans to name a few. This is a definite new direction and revenue stream for a tangible, industrial product firm! Resourceful to say the least. I am very curious as to how much the site is making from these ads. Also, it would be interesting to know whether the ad revenue exceeds the bandwidth and hosting costs…

In any case, I thought this was a fascinating story. I’m sure there are many other popular misspelled sites out there. I wonder how they deal with the traffic onslaught…

I know I rant about certain topics to no end, but there are certain things I feel passionate about. The semantic web is one of them. I glorify links and a static web. I’m boring and lame. Call me Mr. Web 1.0. Having said that, I focus on simplicity and a stream-lined user experience. Practicality and logic are two ideals that I admire when perusing a site.

Directories are a great business model. They have a built-in:

• revenue model (i.e. premium listing)
• marketing mechanism (i.e. SEO)

The hierarchical nature of the system makes it easy for users to find what they are looking for. Furthermore, this set-up also facilitates search engine crawling, ensuring that all pages are indexed.

Directories fulfill all the requirements of a site well-optimized for search engines. Page titles, URLs (in many cases), META tags, headers, page content, and anchor text are all well-described by default.

Directories are also ideal for anything ‘local’. Regional sites have proven the model. The YellowPages and online classified ad sites, like Craigslist, function much in the same way. They are useful to the non-techie and provide offline value.

I find directories to be similar to forums and discussion boards from a user-participation stand-point. They both rely highly on social media and “crowd-sourcing” to aggregate content and data. Users and site visitors are submitting info to add value to the site or discussion, or to provide exposure for a given cause. In any case, the directory ’system’ takes care of the work, leaving little human labour to deal with site functionality. This allows the site to scale with very little additional manpower or resources needed. It is automatic.

So next time you’re conjuring up an idea for a web business, forget the ’sexy’ social networks and web 2.0 hype. Think simple, think straight-forward, think directories.

Today’s “Cash or Trash” company is Digg.

If you are unfamiliar with “Cash or Trash”, here is a quick rundown:

In every post, I will name a well-known web 2.0 company. Readers will then have to decide whether the company is worth investing in or whether it’s doomed for bankruptcy. In other words, would you invest cash in the company or do you think it should be thrown in the trash?

Provide a brief argument as to why or why not you would invest in the company in the comments. Debating and arguing is highly recommended and encouraged, as long as arguments are well sought-out and thorough.

A couple of points to keep in mind:

• Determine whether you would invest at TODAY’S valuation. Forget past growth. In other words, do you still think the company has a lot of upside potential?
• Don’t treat your ‘cash’ like play money. Would you actually see yourself investing in the company if given the opportunity to purchase shares?
• If you are not familiar with the company or service, refrain from posting until you try the service.

For previous “Cash or Trash” companies, visit the Cash or Trash category.