Mapping Tech Startups

MAPPING TECH STARTUPS Ups . More than 90% of tech startups fail. The reasons for these failures are as varied as the methods to success. Why do some startups Succeed while others fail? * SUCCEEDED FAILED shopkick. airtime SHOPKICK AIRTIME HISTORY > Founded in 2009 > Launched mobile app in > Airtime launched in June, 2012 at a star-studded release. The brainchild of Napster creators Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning. 2010. FUNCTION The mobile incarnation gives customers deals at participating retailers as soon as they enter Airtime works in { } conjunction with Facebook to let users video chat. Users are paired for random chats based on areas of interest. the store. SUCCESS FAILURE The program took two years and Shopkick developers invented new software, more accurate than GPS, which responds when customers walk into participating retailers. $33.5 million in investment funds to come to fruition. ONCE AIRTIME FINALLY LAUNCHED, IT WAS RIDDLED WITH PROGRAMMING BUGS. « THE APP IS THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND » The app partnered with Visa" in 2011 to > Shopkick was rated the 4th-most-widely used shopping app in 2012 Users discovered Months after Airtime hit the Internet, offer users rewards at Airtime employees any location that accepts Visa credit or debit cards. were monitoring their video chats to projected user numbers were far below the company's filter inappropriate content. expectations. OCT IN 2012, The company expanded Airtime to include Twitter compatibility, but was still slow to take off. the app partnered with Mastercard. Level Up myspace, LEVELUP MYSPACE HISTORY > The app In April, 2012 the > The site was founded in August, 2003, but launched in 2004. launched in company revamped the app and changed late 2011 as a One month after its launch, Myspace couponing 1 million egistered service. its executive staf users. > The new app implemented a streamlined user > Five months had risen to after launch, that number 5 million. interface which let users browse merchants by category and browse their transaction history > By July, 2005 Myspace was worth $327 million. FUNCTION The app also gives users unique, first-time their smartphones purchase discounts in instead of their stores and unlocks other offers as they shop. LevelUp lets users pay with Myspace built on the success of Friendster to become the primary } { } social networking site of the early 2000's. credit card SUCCESS FAILURE In addition to giving users safe In October of 2006, 13 year-old and convenient payment options OFFER and discounts, the app also Megan Meier killed herself due to Myspace bullying. provides other unique services. In April, 2008 Facebook In April, 2009 brought in 115 million unique monthly visitors, the same number as Myspace. LEVELUP WAS THE FIRST MOBILE co-founder Chris DeWolfe stepped down as CEQ PAYMENT APP TO LET USERS GIVE TO CHARITY WHILE SHOPPING. THE APP AS FACEBOOK GREW, MYSPACE RELEASED NEARLY HALF OF ITS" EMPLOYEES IN JANUARY, 2011 also lets merchants custom-design their own version of LevelUp, specifically geared toward their customer base. In June, 2011, DeWolfe publicly expressed disgust with the direction the site had taken That same month, Myspace sells to Specific Media for $35 million. Many cite preference for advertisers over customers and lack of innovation as the ultimate failings of Myspace. « IN LATE 2012, MYSPACE RELAUNCHED SPORTING A COMPLETE REDESIGN. » The revamped site borrows from P popular image-sharing platforms After announcing the relaunch, the site's traffic increased, but like Tumblr and Pinterest. eventually leveled. As of January, 2013 the revamped - Myspace is the 138th most popular site in the U.S. 138th Azynga friendster ZYNGA FRIENDSTER HISTORY > The site launched in early 2003. > Created in 2007. The company's first game was a small poker title on Facebook. By the end of that year, Friendster made PE. $13 million. Zynga games originally made money on Myspace, but switched soon after to Facebook > As Myspace succeeded, Friendster went from one of the most innovative ideas on the web to 13th among social networks in 2007. Since its inception, Zynga has generated $1.5 billion. FUNCTION Zynga creates online games which are hosted primarily through Facebook, most notably Farmville. Friendster was the first major social network on the Internet. SUCCESS FAILURE The company's founder, Mark Pincus, saw a slew of failures before the success of Zynga. On May 31st, 2011 the site erased users' pictures, blogs, and more, effectively dissolving the site. IN 2011, ALL OF THE TOP FIVE THE ULTIMATE FAILURE OF FRIENDSTER WAS THAT IT COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH FACEBOOK-HOSTED GAMES WERE OWNED BY ZYNGA. EVOLVING SOCIAL MEDIA PRACTICES Pincus and his The company While users could News feeds, a generate profiles, there was very little functionality for users to interact with each other. core feature on business partner at constantly researches and releases new titles and hopes to make Zynga Facebook, were the time invested completely absent from Friendster in Facebook in 2007, just as it synonymous with online gaming in the same way Google is with searching was beginning to take over social media. In Asia, a revamped version of Friendster was launched in 2011 and is growing rapidly, but success has yet to trickle to America. ALLMAND LAW BROUGHT TO YOU BY HELPING GO00 PEOPLE GET A FRESH START SOURCE: http://allmandlaw.com/articles/mapping-tech-startups