A good way to start your own news site…

Posted on May 23, 2008
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I don’t know about you, but I am a bit fed up with all those sites that are supposed to provide interesting news voted or created by users. Sometimes it would be nice to create your own site. This is probably the momement you may try NewsBeet. NewsBeet is a platform for building your own news site covering any topic or beat you want. Users start their site (or sites) with a handful of topical RSS feeds, plug it into our system, hit go, and the founders of the site do the rest. And by “the rest” they mean:

* Story Voting: readers can vote for stories and really drive what gets published on the front page
* User Generated Content: readers can submit stories, make comments, upload pictures and videos
* User Management: readers can register , earn points for their comments and participation
* Social Networking: readers can come together and connect over topics they care about
* Revenue Generation: Beets come with cool advertising widgets, and the site splits this revenue with you

The platform is built on the Pligg platform which is why it can be so powerful and flexible.

Maybe that’s not the first site I visit in the morning, but a good alternative to many expensive solutions you can find on the web. I would give the following vote: 7/10

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How I Raised $5.3 Million in Venture Capital at Age 22

Posted on May 22, 2008
Filed Under Interviews | Leave a Comment

We have been blogging about startups since 2006, but there is always something interesting to discover. If you search the net, you can find Ryan Allis, the author of entrepreneurship book bestseller ‘Zero to One Million’ shares how he raised $5.35 million in venture capital for iContact at age 22. This guy is absolutely great, and it’s definitely the kind of person who can tell you how to raise money in VC/PE.

You can also watch the videos uploaded at Vimeo, one of our favorite videos sites.

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Lendbee - a social exchange site you probably do not know…

Posted on May 20, 2008
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Lendbee is a social exchange site that allows people to post items, movies , games that they have already read or seen, and lend them to others. Simply go to Lendbee.com and register and then you can simply search for things that people are offering, reserve the item, and then discuss pick up with the lender.

Three points should be made:
1) Most of the lending sites dont take into account the physical proximity of the lenders. This site addresses that niche
2) moreover the objective of the site is to enable people to find new friends within their college, work place or apartments
3) Small video library shops can host their items and form community with their customers. This will enable them to bring the power of web to their customers, without having to invest in technology. Moreover this will also enable them to provide the convenience of big movie sites like netflix, seventymm.com etc.

Probably not the best site on earth, but it has potential for improvement… We give mark 6/10…

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FlyRig - a map-based apartment rental listing service for New York City

Posted on May 20, 2008
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FlyRig.com is a map-based apartment rental listing service for New York City with broker reviews, searchable local interest information (such as restaurants, stores, and schools), and integrated public transportation information. Users can rate brokers and comment on their listings, pointing out discrepancies between the description and actual unit, or providing additional information on local interest points.

What makes this startup special is:
- Over 5,000 listings, 300 brokers, 20 agencies
- Lots of integrated map-based tools (subway & bus lines, Google Street View, Google local search, HopStop directions, zoned schools)
- Easily-accessible local information (neighborhood guides, crime statistics, average rents)
- Free renter/agent matching service. Renters can fill out a request form and that information is passed to every interested agent on our system.
- Ability to write reviews & comments on brokers and their properties.

The objective of the founders is to improve the rental process here in New York. The tight market results in misinformation and opportunities for unscrupulous agents - things that are frustrating to both renters and agents who work hard to build trust with their clients. In addition, there lacks a modern solution for finding apartments in the city - the most popular listing services either lack mapping capabilities or supporting information commonly needed when deciding on a place to live.

Mark: 7/10

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iFutbal - much more than a YouTube clone for football fans

Posted on May 13, 2008
Filed Under Startups | Comments Off

The football is almost over, but I am still excited as the Euro Cup is going to start soon. A nice site has been recently launched, which is a sort of YouTube clome. In a nusthell, iFutbal is an audience-driven video site dedicated to the most popular sport in the world.

Soccer fans are able to browse and consume thousands of user submitted videos and share their own content with friends or the entire community.
Video sharing through iFutbal educates, inspires, entertains, and promotes soccer players and fans across the world. “Share the Passion” is the philosophy of the website.

As in YouTube members can upload or embeid their own content. It seems nothing special, but trust me, if you are a real football fan, that kind of videos will occupy a great part of your time everyday. What should be improved is graphics, which is very poor. Time will tell if those guys will do sth to make this site better.