Last night I attended the Silicon Valley NewTech Meetup. Below is my opinion of the companies, the presentation, and my attempt to capture the content from the questions and answers.
The first presentation was given by MyThings, a website that allows you to catalog your belongings on-line. The site was first used as a service called Trace (www.trace.com), an online database of used and stolen valuables. Primarily for the fine arts community–of auction houses, dealers, insurance companies and law enforcement–Trace was a service which allowed people to check if items are registered as lost or stolen. Now the idea behind MyThings is for everyone to better manage their belongings, not just report lost or stolen information. Users can catalog, photograph, share, value, and leverage useful information about their things from the websites community.
- Audience Question: Who are the experts that evaluate the things?
- Answer: We have structured deals with experts in art, china, sports memorabilia, furniture, jewelry, and other special collectors. The beauty of the website is that it allows any individual to share insight not just our partner professionals.
The second presentation was given by MerchantCircle. I believe this company has a very compelling value proposition. They provide a free template and hosting services for businesses to develop their own website. It appears to be extremely easy to use with additional value added services. Some of the free features included are the ability to manage blogs, customer reviews, and critic awards. This is perfect for small business because it is easy to manage and free exposure to potential customers.
- Audience Question: How do you make money?
- Answer: We make some through advertising, however our primary source of revenue is from the value added services. We offer website management, Internet advertising advice, and custom website design.
The third presentation was from Razz. The presenter was well rehearsed, energetic, informative, and clearly demonstrated the users experience. Razz offers three products. First is the Razz Mixer, a web hosted device, that allows you to create custom recordings comprised of beats, music, character quotes, just about anything. The second product is the Grab & Go Razz. It is a list of recorded jokes, blurbs, messages, that you can add to any website. There are plenty of social networking websites out there, and I believe people will use Razz’s technology to express their identity and personal creativity. The third product is the Razz Mobile. The software allows you to interject any of your recordings by pressing a number on your cell phone.
The fourth presentation was given by coRank. (No Comment)